When parachutes are deployed, the parachute material is extracted from the deployment bag at high speed. Interaction with the parachute bag during deployment can cause damage which can propagate and cause parachute failure during inflation. After a parachute has failed during inflation, it is impossible to determine whether the initial damage was caused during deployment or inflation. A parachute extraction rig thus provides an invaluable tool for testing parachute deployment before committing to expensive system flight tests of the system. The only existing parachute extraction rig is located at JPL in the USA. A European rig would be of benefit for ESA programmes. 

A transportable parachute extraction test rig has been designed which has the capability to test deployment of the parachutes for all current and planned missions. The rig uses compressed air for acceleration of either pilot-chute-deployed or mortar-deployed parachutes to representative extraction velocities. The rig has been designed so that it can be relocated easily between test sites and can be packed into a small volume (3, 20 ft shipping contains) between campaigns. This programme has advanced the European TRL from 1 to 3. A 13 month development plan has been defined for its detailed design, manufacture and commissioning which will achieve TRL 8. The rig will be of vital importance for upcoming ESA exploration and cargo return missions. The activity focused the work undertaken to design the European Dynamic Extraction Test Rig.