“…Among the challenges for the designers of ram-air parachutes is increasing the payload capacity of the parafoils while improving their glide ratio. For example, NASA's X-38 program, cancelled in 2003, involved development and testing of a 7500 ft 2 parafoil for landing a 25 000 lb spacecraft [1]. In Europe, the FASTWing CL (foldable adaptive steerable textile wing for delivery of capital loads) project [2], ongoing since December 2006, aims to develop a self-navigated system for cargo up to 6000 kg.…”