▁skip - g lide ▁and ▁skip ▁re entry . ▁ ▁The ▁concept ▁was ▁first ▁seriously ▁studied ▁as ▁a ▁way ▁to ▁extend ▁the ▁range ▁of ▁ball istic ▁miss iles , ▁but ▁has ▁not ▁been ▁used ▁operation ally ▁in ▁this ▁form . ▁However , ▁the ▁Russian ▁Ar med ▁Forces ▁announced ▁the ▁entry ▁into ▁oper ational ▁service ▁of ▁the ▁IC B M ▁launched ▁Av ang ard ▁hyp erson ic ▁gli de ▁vehicle ▁on ▁ 2 7 ▁December ▁ 2 0 1 9 . ▁The ▁underlying ▁aer od ynamic ▁concepts ▁have ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁produce ▁man eu ver able ▁re entry ▁vehicles , ▁or ▁MAR V , ▁to ▁increase ▁the ▁accuracy ▁of ▁some ▁miss iles . ▁More ▁recently ▁the ▁traditional ▁form ▁with ▁an ▁extended ▁gl iding ▁phase ▁has ▁been ▁considered ▁as ▁a ▁way ▁to ▁reach ▁targets ▁while ▁flying ▁below ▁their ▁rad ar ▁coverage . ▁ ▁The ▁concept ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁used ▁to ▁extend ▁the ▁re entry ▁time ▁for ▁vehicles ▁returning ▁to ▁Earth ▁from ▁the ▁Moon , ▁who ▁would ▁otherwise ▁have ▁to ▁shed ▁a ▁large ▁amount ▁of ▁velocity ▁in ▁a ▁short ▁time ▁and ▁thereby ▁suffer ▁very ▁high ▁he ating ▁rates . ▁The ▁Apol lo ▁Command ▁Module ▁used ▁what ▁is ▁essentially ▁a ▁one - skip ▁re entry ▁( or ▁partial ▁skip ), ▁as ▁did ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Z ond ▁and ▁Chinese ▁Ch ang ' e ▁ 5 - T 1 . ▁More ▁complex ▁multi - skip ▁re entry ▁is ▁proposed ▁for ▁newer ▁vehicles ▁like ▁the ▁Or ion ▁space craft . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁Early ▁concepts ▁ ▁The ▁concept ual ▁basis