// ORBITAL LOGISTICS AND PROPULSION TERM
Heat Shield
A protective layer on a spacecraft designed to absorb or deflect the extreme heat generated during re-entry into a planet's atmosphere.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
A specialized thermal protection system (TPS) component, typically ablative or ceramic, designed to protect spacecraft and their contents from the extreme aerodynamic heating and plasma generated during high-speed atmospheric re-entry or hypersonic flight.
BACKGROUND
In spacecraft design, the function of the thermal control system (TCS) is to keep all the spacecraft's component systems within acceptable temperature ranges during all mission phases. It must cope with the external environment, which can vary in a wide range as the spacecraft is exposed to the extreme coldness found in the shadows of deep space or to the intense heat found in the unfiltered direct sunlight of outer space. A TCS must also moderate the internal heat generated by the operation of the spacecraft it serves.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Thermal Protection System
- Ablator
- Re-entry Shield
- TPS
USAGE NOTE
The integrity of the heat shield is paramount for the safe return of capsules and probes.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Heat Shield.
The U.S. space agency has been a pioneer in Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) since the Apollo program. Its Ames Research Center continues to develop and test materials like PICA (Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator) and is leading the development of inflatable heat shields like the LOFTID (Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator) technology.
SpaceX develops and manufactures its own heat shields. Its Dragon capsule uses a proprietary ablative heat shield called PICA-X. For its fully reusable Starship vehicle, the company has developed a system of thousands of hexagonal ceramic tiles designed to withstand numerous re-entries from orbit.
As the prime contractor for NASA's Orion spacecraft, Lockheed Martin designed and manufactured one of the largest ablative heat shields ever built. It is designed to protect astronauts from the extreme temperatures of high-energy re-entry from lunar and deep space missions.
ULA is actively developing inflatable heat shield technology, known as HIAD (Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator), to recover the main engines of its Vulcan Centaur rocket. This technology aims to make booster reuse more cost-effective.
The company's Dream Chaser spaceplane is protected by a thermal protection system composed of thousands of silica-based tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon composites on high-heat areas like the nose and wing leading edges, enabling it to re-enter the atmosphere and land on a conventional runway.
Boeing developed the heat shield for its CST-100 Starliner crew capsule. It features a traditional, single-use ablative heat shield on a honeycomb structure that burns away during re-entry to dissipate heat and protect the crew module.
JAXA has significant experience in developing heat shields for high-velocity re-entry, most notably for its Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 sample return capsules, which returned to Earth at speeds exceeding 12 km/s after visiting asteroids.