Aerocapture is a maneuver that uses a planet’s atmosphere to slow down a spacecraft and place it into orbit. It’s considered a “free lunch” because it doesn’t require much propellant. 

Aerocapture could enable high-speed exploration missions to every planet in the Solar System except Mercury. It could also enhance missions to Venus, Mars, Titan, and Uranus, and enable missions to Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. 

Aerocapture has never been attempted before. The guidance logic is a key element for the success of an aerocapture. It has to be able to guide the vehicle in a variety of adverse and highly perturbed conditions. 

When spacecraft return to Earth, they don’t need to shed all their velocity by firing retro-rockets. Instead, they use the atmosphere as a brake to slow down for a soft landing

Aerocapture has not been used on a planetary mission. However, it has been used for orbit insertion and landing on Mars. The Magellan spacecraft also used aerobraking at Venus in the 1990s. 

The re-entry skip by Zond 6 and Zond 7 upon lunar return were also aerocapture maneuvers. 

In the mid-to-late 2010s, several small and low-cost missions used aerocapture at Mars and Venus. In 2016, there was renewed interest in aerocapture in Uranus and Neptune.

Aerobraking is a technique that uses atmospheric drag to reduce a spacecraft’s velocity relative to a celestial body.Aerocapture is a type of aerobraking that uses atmospheric drag to slow down a spacecraft and put it into orbit. 

Aerobraking involves flying a spacecraft through the atmosphere at the low point of its elliptical orbit. The friction from the atmosphere slows the spacecraft down and lowers its orbital altitude. Aerobraking can take months, so it requires constant ground operation. 

Aerocapture is a single pass through a planetary atmosphere. It can be used to transition from escape velocity to orbit. Aerocapture can also be a prelude to entering the atmosphere.(full article source google)

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