The goal of this study is to develop an autonomous guidance and control system for prospective spacecraft recovery using parafoils. As the first phase of such efforts, a parafoil flight experiment vehicle equipped with a propulsion system for running and taking off by itself was designed and fabricated, with the aim of acquiring know-how of handling parafoils and designing/fabricating vehicles. In addition, on-board avionics for measuring parafoil flight dynamics were designed and fabricated. Preliminary flight experiments were carried out in Muroran/Furthermore, a plan of establishing a system for lifting the vehicles up to an altitude and releasing them for parafoil opening and gliding is outlined.
