MEIT team launches twenty years of successful payload integration with the REBR-2

Officials at MEI Technologies, Inc. (MEIT), a U.S. technology company, celebrate two successful reentries of the Reentry Breakup Recorder-2 (REBR-2) payload.  REBR-2 is designed to gather information during the reentry and breakup of its host vehicle, paving the way for a greater understanding of spacecraft design safety.

The most recent of over 240 payloads integrated by MEIT, the REBR-2 instrument measured a variety of parameters as it reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.  Measurements taken during reentry and transmitted to researchers just prior to impact are being processed and will be analyzed to better understand how spacecraft break up and disintegrate upon reentry. This information will provide knowledge for spacecraft designers to better ensure the safety of the general public when spacecraft reach their end of life.

Launched on July 21, aboard Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA’s) HTV-3 spacecraft, the two REBR-2 instruments arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on July 27. The first REBR-2 instrument departed the ISS on the HTV-3 on Sept. 12 and successful reentry occurred on Sept. 14. The second REBR-2 instrument departed the ISS on the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ATV-3 on Sept. 28 and successful reentry occurred on Oct. 2. Both instruments were activated by JAXA astronaut Akihiko “Aki” Hoshide.

“REBR has come to have a storied history, flying successfully on the HTV-2, HTV-3 and most recently the ATV-3,” said Zane Singleton, REBR payload integration engineer for MEIT.  “It has been exciting to help build and test REBR, as well as integrating it for flight and working real-time operations.  I am very proud of the entire REBR team, including support from The Aerospace Corporation, NASA and the USAF.  It has been a pleasure and I look forward to future REBR endeavors.”

The REBR-2 flight experiment was managed through the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program, sponsored by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Developmental Planning Directorate (SMC/XR) and built by The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo. The MEIT DoD Human Exploration Payload (DHEP) team performed the payload integration activities for the REBR-2 payload onto JAXA’s HTV-3 spacecraft and ESA’s ATV-3 spacecraft. 

MEIT’s Space Access Services provides spaceflight opportunities for small payloads requiring access to space. For more information on MEIT’s Space Access Services, click here.