Patent ID: 8498756

Claim:
A method for capturing reusable space flight hardware that passes through an atmosphere in an approach to a terrestrial surface, the method comprising: estimating a trajectory of the space flight hardware as the hardware descends; identifying a target landing region on the terrestrial surface that the estimated trajectory will intersect as the hardware approaches the terrestrial surface; providing at least one ground based vehicle that is movable and maneuverable and that comprises a hovercraft having a landing platform on which the hardware is to be captured; pre-positioning the at least one ground based vehicle in the target landing region so that the estimated trajectory intersects at least a portion of the landing platform; providing an atmospheric deceleration system on the space flight hardware; activating the deceleration system on the space flight hardware as the hardware approaches the terrestrial surface; allowing the space flight hardware to descend in reaction to aerodynamic and gravitational forces acting upon the space flight hardware and the deceleration system; measuring relative positions of the space flight hardware and at least one of the landing platform and the ground based vehicle; and maneuvering the ground based vehicle using measured relative positions and the estimated trajectory to capture the space flight hardware as the hardware descends to the terrestrial surface.