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Falke was a German program to fly a subscale model of the
* Length
* Wing span
* Height
* Mass
The shape of Falke was the one of the Space Shuttle orbiter with a 1/5 scale factor. Falke had its own power, an autopilot and a computer to control the hydraulically actuated flight control surfaces of the spaceplane.
The sensor suite of Falke was measuring attitude, temperature, flux, pressure and acceleration.
CNES was tracking Falke by radar and telemetry.
Space Shuttle orbiter
The Space Shuttle orbiter is the spaceplane component of the Space Shuttle, a partially reusable orbital spacecraft system that was part of the discontinued Space Shuttle program. Operated from 1977 to 2011 by NASA, the U.S. space agency, thi ...
in real conditions in order to obtain aerodynamic data in the frame of the preparation of the Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...
spaceplane. One flight test was performed in 1990.
Organization
The program was funded by the German federal Ministry of Research. The leadership of the program was DLR. The flight model was produced by the German companyOHB-System
OHB SE is a European multinational technology corporation. Headquartered in Bremen, Germany, the corporation consists of the two business divisions Space Systems and Aerospace + Industrial Products. A key product of the corporation is fully int ...
Flight model characteristics
* Length
* Wing span
* Height
* Mass
The shape of Falke was the one of the Space Shuttle orbiter with a 1/5 scale factor. Falke had its own power, an autopilot and a computer to control the hydraulically actuated flight control surfaces of the spaceplane.
The sensor suite of Falke was measuring attitude, temperature, flux, pressure and acceleration.
CNES was tracking Falke by radar and telemetry.
Flight history
The only flight of Falke took place on September 6, 1990. French space agencyCNES
The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is und ...
launched a stratospheric balloon from its Aire-sur-l'Adour center carrying Falke. After a 2 h 43 m ascent, Falke was released at an altitude of .
At the end of the flight, a parachute was deployed at an altitude of 6 km and Falke landed in horizontal position on airbags.
Outcome
Three further flights were foreseen, but they were cancelled when the European Space Agency cancelled Hermes. ReferencesDetails and images of the balloon drop test from a balloon in 1990 - StratoCat website
* ''French Balloon Operational Activity - Overall view and two examples: FALKE, an aeronautic project using Stratospheric balloon, and Arctic long-duration flights during the ILAS campaign'' - Pierre Faucon - CNES, Aire-sur-l'Adour - Paper ISTS 98 - j - 19V
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