According to satnews.com and Yahoo Tech, Sierra Space conducted a high-altitude balloon drop test of its Ghost reentry vehicle over Utah, released from a balloon at 68,500 feet. U.S. Space Command’s Apollo Nexus exercise conducted the test.
According to satnews.com and Yahoo Tech, The payload included a bottle of whiskey and a software-defined radio (a radio that implements its functions in software), both recovered intact after the drop. The test validated the Ghost’s thermal protection system, designed to survive reentry temperatures up to 2,000 °F.
According to satnews.com and Yahoo Tech, After the thermal shield jettisoned, a steerable parafoil guided the payload to a landing point within 100 meters of the target. When operators give a deorbit command, onboard thrusters cut the vehicle’s speed to about 7,000 meters per second to start reentry.
According to satnews.com and Yahoo Tech, Ghost aims to deliver cargo from orbit to any location on Earth in roughly 90 minutes. It can stay in low‑Earth orbit for as long as five years, serving as an on‑orbit supply depot.
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