Radio-Wave Absorption During Capsule Re-Entry in Atmosphere: A Numerical Study
Oreste PEZZI, Davide NINNI, Francesco BONELLI, Gianpiero COLONNA
Abstract. Radio communication during atmospheric re-entry of space vehicles is critical for spacecraft operations due to the formation of a high-temperature plasma which can severely attenuate radio signals. Here, we present a numerical model aimed at investigating radio-wave propagation through the inhomogeneous plasma surrounding the re-entry vehicle. The model employs a one-way coupling of (i) fluid simulations which retain the thermo-chemical non-equilibrium plasma surrounding the capsule, and (ii) a Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) solver to simulate the interaction of radio-frequency waves with such a plasma flow. This study confirms that radio waves are severely attenuated near the capsule nose.
Keywords
Radio-Wave Communication, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hypersonic Flows, Thermo-Chemical Nonequilibrium, Atmospheric Re-Entry
Published online 8/15/2026, 5 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Oreste PEZZI, Davide NINNI, Francesco BONELLI, Gianpiero COLONNA, Radio-Wave Absorption During Capsule Re-Entry in Atmosphere: A Numerical Study, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 70, pp 39-43, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904299-9
The article was published as article 9 of the book HEATS Workshop 2026
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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