Development of, and experiment on, a European retrievable carrier

The basic objective of the proposed 'retrievable carrier' (RC) program is the consideration of a payload carrier which can be separated from the Shuttle in orbit, operate in a free-flying mode, be retrieved together with its payload, and be reused. Attention is given to a model payload for the first RC mission, details regarding the retrievable carrier concept, and the development of space platforms which can reach higher orbits and can be used for earth observation. The European retrievable carrier concept is found to make possible the easy transfer of payloads from Spacelab to long-duration free-flying operations. In addition, this concept is a cost-effective approach to provide for early requirements in the area of microgravity research.