Plasma Telemetry in Hypersonic Flight

Problems associated with telemetry blackout caused by the plasma sheath surrounding a hypersonic vehicle are addressed. In particular, the critical nature of overcoming this limitation for test and evaluation purposes is detailed. Since the telemetry blackout causes great concern for atmospheric cruise vehicles, ballistic missiles, and reentry vehicles, there have been many proposed approaches to solving the problem. This paper overviews aerodynamic design methodologies, for which the required technologies are only now being realized, which may allow for uninterrupted transmission through a plasma sheath. The severity of the signal attenuation is dependent on vehicle configuration, trajectory, flightpath, and mission.