Abstract
Some basic questions of the flight mechanics of aerospace vehicles at very high altitudes are investigated and in some cases reviewed. In particular those of the spacecraft trajectories are considered along which the aerodynamic actions take place in a range of the Knudsen number between transition and free molecular flow. A recent physico-mathematical model is adopted in the evaluation of the aerodynamic and heat transfer coefficients. The stability characteristics are discussed of two reference vehicle configurations for which the time histories are also calculated relative to significant equilibrium conditions. In the final section of the paper the initial step of an aeroassisted orbit transfer is considered in order to evaluate the constraints due to the aerodynamic heating on this manoeuvre.
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