When a Soyuz rocket takes off into the night sky over Baikonur on February 9, it will carry the promise of an innovative way to return cargo from space.

The mission will test the inflatable reentry shield, designed by a Russian company for past Mars missions, but now revived as a possible compact and cost-effective technology to bring payloads back to Earth.

Two reentry shields, known as Inflatable Reentry and Descent Technology (IRDT), will be mounted on the new Fregat upper stage, itself being tested for the first time for possible commercial applications.

To protect the Fregat during fiery reentry, the IRDT shield will inflate from a 3.3-foot (1-meter) compact package up to 39-53 feet (12-16 meters) in diameter shortly before reentry.

A smaller IRDT shield launched in the same mission will attempt to return a payload demonstrator to Earth.

The Lavochkin bureau in Moscow built the IRDT shields, the project is a combined venture with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG, DASA -- based in Munich.

Robin Zell, DASA's spokesperson, said that the company sees enormous commercial applications for the technology.

"Our first idea is to incorporate IRDT into the ATV space tug," Zell said.

The ATV is a transfer vehicle, which the European Space Agency is developing to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

The inflatable shields installed on the ATV space tugs would allow not only the delivery, but also the return of cargo from the ISS. The company believes that the cost of the new method will be lower than traditional ways of returning payloads on space shuttle, or on the traditional returnable capsules.

DASA hopes the low cost and compactness of the new technology would eventually justify the return of the rocket stages and the satellites from space for re-use.

According to DASA, the first IRDT test mission was prepared in just nine months.

The upcoming launch of the Soyuz booster carrying IRDT had been planned with the inaugural launch of the Fregat in mind.

Starsem, a joint venture between Western European aerospace companies and the Russian space industry, hopes to use the new upper stage to deliver heavier commercial payloads into orbit and other interplanetary trajectories.

The Fregat's design increases by 1.984 pounds (900 kilograms) the payload that a Soyuz rocket will be capable of lifting.

The stage's design was derived from the propulsion module developed by Russia's Lavochkin Bureau for planetary missions.

Currently, Starsem uses Soyuz rockets equipped with the Ikar upper stage, which is capable of delivering 4.1 tons (3,720 kilograms) into the low Earth orbit.

The first Soyuz/Fregat launch had been originally planned for January 27; however, it had to be delayed due to a schedule conflict with the launch of the Progress cargo ship to the Mir space station, currently planned for February 1.

Although the Soyuz rockets carrying the Progress and Fregat upper stages will be launched from the two different launch pads, the same personnel serves both launch complexes.

There had been a plan to launch a satellite from Argentina with the first Fregat, but the Argentinean payload was not ready in time, Starsem representatives said.

The current schedule calls for the Fregat upper stage to leave the fueling station at Baikonur on February 1.

The upper stage will then be integrated with its Soyuz launcher, and the entire stack will be rolled out to the launch pad on February 6.

Launch Pad 31 at Baikonur has been specifically modified to accommodate Soyuz/Fregat combination.

The launch is planned 20 minutes for after midnight local time on February 9.

Starsem plans one more test flight of the Soyuz/Fregat combination in March, carrying a mock-up of a Cluster 2 science satellite. A pair of real Cluster 2 spacecraft is scheduled for launch in the summer of 2000 if the test goes well.

Starsem also hopes to use the same launch combination to send a European planetary probe toward Mars in 2003.