>>11490155>The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is a public-private partnership between NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and United LaunchAlliance (ULA). The LOFTID project is poised to revolutionize the way NASA and industry deliver payloads to a planet’s surface or into orbit, utilizing aerodynamic forces instead of propulsion. Since NASA’s inception in 1958, the agency has relied heavily on retro-propulsion (rockets) and rigid heat shields to decelerate people, vehicles, and hardware during orbital entry, descent, and landing (EDL) operations.
After more than a decade of development
of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology, including two suborbital flight tests, the LOFTID orbital flight test is the next logical step. Return from orbit provides an entry environment relevant to many potential applications, paving the way for its use on future missions. HIAD technology can enhance, and even enable, larger missions to higher elevations at Mars. It can also be applied at Earth, providing capability for International Space Station (ISS) down-mass, or even enabling return for free-flying orbital manufacturing. Recovery of spent launch vehicle assets for reuse, such as ULA’s plan to recover their first stage booster, can reduce the overall cost of access to space.
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/loftid_fact_sheet_june2019.pdf 
