The typical ways to ensure a spacecraft isn't heavily damaged during descent are to use single-use ablative heat shields, which burn away, or ceramic tiles, which can withstand the heat, but must ...

A private company has plans to test a new heat shield that folds and unfolds like origami, and it could conduct a test flight aboard a SpaceX rocket later this year.

UK-based Space Forge debuted new technology, including a heat shield, to make its space manufacturing satellite fully reusable.

ESA is preparing to test a very cool new fold-out heat shield for protecting spacecraft on re-entry. The Pridwen won't burn away like ablative heat shields, and it'll also slow falling satellites ...

The particular concern was with Orion’s heat shield, separation bolts, and power distribution, as during the reentry process for Artemis I, the capsule’s ablative heat shield wore away more ...

SpaceX is upgrading Starship’s heat shield with new tiles that are twice as strong as the previous version used during the flight 4 test. SpaceX is adingd an ablative secondary structure behind the ...

They saw cracks in the craft's heat shield and divots in the ablative thermal protection layer resembling potholes on a neglected street.

The heat shield issue notwithstanding, NASA reported steady progress toward the anticipated crewed launch of Artemis 2 in November 2024.

Cardiff-based company Space Forge is preparing to test its groundbreaking heat shield, Pridwen, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission later this year.

Sweating Heat Shields Could Be the Future Of Reusable Spacecraft 3D-printed material can off-gas a coolant, which acts as a barrier against heat buildup during descent and atmospheric re-entry.