In July I saw a high altitude launch (20,000 feet?) where the horizontal velocity component (reported by a Multitronix “Kate” telemetry system) was in excess of 200mph — similar to a rocket’s velocity when falling as a “lawn dart” from an altitude of 2,000 feet. The result of deploying a drogue chute at this velocity will destroy all but the strongest rockets and recovery systems. (The launch I saw was a very strong rocket and recovery system but the recovery system almost failed when a 3/8” SS Quick Link opened up and nearly straightened out.)
I think we are envisioning two completely different systems.
In the above you refer to “deploying a drogue” at a horizontal velocity “in excess of 200 mph.” So I guess you are talking about a PRE-drogue deployment steerable system. Such horizontal velocity is NOT imparted by the drogue which by your discussion hasn’t been deployed yet. I am not sure what the source of such a 200 mph non-vertical velocity would be, I am thinking weather cocking or wind, but it CANNOT be attributed to a drogue which has yet to be deployed.
Sounds like what you want is not a steerable drogue but a steerable (and STALLABLE) lawn dart.
I was envisioning a “hang glider” configured drogue, very small and very tough, that could survive deployment at standard apogee conditions (not sure ANYTHING is gonna survive at 200mph velocity in any direction, but then I am L-0.). At drogue deployment, the rocket itself should be unstable, so left to its own devices it will tumble but not lawn dart (HPR equivalent of LPR “nose blow” recovery, nonstable and slows BY ITS OWN DRAG, better than a lawn dart anyway), with the drogue contributing little if any to reducing descent rate, but if STEERABLE could nudge the rocket back toward launch site adjacent safe recovery area (not the pad or spectators or parking lot!). On descent, the rocket is dangling and bouncing around from the shock cord attached to the hang glider drogue, it the shock cord is long enough and has some elasticity, the Downward pull on the draggy flying drogue may not be CONSISTENT in net force, it’s gonna bounce a lot, but should be relatively consistently DOWN (gonna take a heck of an updraft to make it bounce UP, and likely the same draft would hit the drogue too.) So IF you can get the hang glider drogue safely deployed, oriented, and steerable (controlled by on board GPS or by first person video or by some sort of combination of GPS location and on board compass?), you should be able to favorable alter the ground track of the descent compared to a non-directional (dumb) drogue system.
The hang glider drogue’s job isn’t to stall the rocket or even slow it down any more than a “dumb” drogue (my Dad used to talk about smart bombs vs dumb bombs [no deviation in course control possible once released]).
It is merely to
1) slow the rocket to an acceptable main deployment system velocity between apogee and main chute deployment altitude (same thing as a dumb drogue)
but also 2) steer the rocket closer to desired landing site rather than leave it at the mercy of the actual apogee site (which may NOT be straight up from the launch site as intended/hoped) and the prevailing winds.
But I agree it ain’t gonna fix your 200 mph horizontal predeployment scenario.