Review of German work on controlled re-entry technology

The concept of a reusable space transporter formed a focus of much effort for the German firms Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke (JFM), Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm und Voss (MBB) and Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO), together with the Deutsche Forschungs- und Veruchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFVLR) and different University institutes during the decade beginning 1962. The result was the definition, in 1972, of a program of the “Arbeitsgruppe Rückkehrtechnologie” (ART, Working group for reentry technology) which integrated all relevant capacities of research establishments, industry, and universities. The aim was the maintenance of the technical-scientific capabilities for advanced high velocity flight systems and to qualify for international cooperation in this field. Only a small part of this work could be completed, as the ART-program was never accepted by the German Ministry for Research and Technology. So the current work was stopped by the end of 1975. Nevertheless, as the ART-program can serve as a guide-line for possible future work a summary of this work is given.