Blackout mitigation during space vehicle re-entry

Abstract

Space vehicle re-entering the earth's atmosphere is surrounded by a layer of plasma, preventing radio communication from the vehicle, leading to a phenomena called ‘radio blackout’. In this study, the concept of guiding high power laser through plasma has been discussed for establishing communication with the space vehicle during re-entry. It is found that, with increase in relativistic electron mass the refractive index of the plasma medium increases, displaying properties similar to that of converging lens. It is also shown that the power of the laser, if maintained above a critical limit, will assist in focussing of waves. The self-focusing property of plasma is therefore explored for achieving this target and the theoretical proof has been provided.