Fotino

Fotino (small white sphere) [ESA]

The Fotino Technical demonstrator is a small piggy-back payload on the Foton-M 2 capsule to demonstrate simple reentry-technologies as a precursor to the YES2 mission. Fotino is built by european students.

The technical objectives of FOTINO are:

• Demonstrate and test newly developed flexible heatshield;
• Demonstrate the use of an ARGOS beacon for re-entry capsule recovery;
• Demonstrate a single stage re-entry (no parachute is employed FOTINO has a large impact stroke & little mass);
• Demonstrate a very simple, small lightweight re-entry capsule.

The Foton-M 2 mission lasts around 2 weeks after which the main Foton capsule is put into a re-entry trajectory targeted for landing in Kazakhstan. After this de-orbit manoeuvre, the FOTINO capsule is released from the main capsule and will follow its own trajectory to land about 850 km away from the main capsule in Kazachstan.

The Fotino mission was removed shortly befor launch from the Foton-M 2 mission for budget reasons. It later decided to incorporate the Fotino as the reentry body of the YES2 mission.