The reusability of heat shields could be the next driver for space economics!
Both the United States and China are testing the same air insulation technology.
AFP article published on April 14, 2025.
Surviving re-entry into Earth's atmosphere is one of the most technically demanding tasks in space flight.
During low-Earth orbit return, spacecraft experience temperatures as high as 1600 degrees Celsius. In extreme cases, such as the Galileo probe's plunge into Jupiter, this temperature can rise sharply to over 16,000 degrees Celsius.
Heat shields are essential for protecting payloads and human passengers from such intense thermal stresses.
The space industry is undergoing rapid transformation, with the space economy increasingly influenced by commercial operators. Traditionally, space missions were one-off events, prioritizing the delivery of payloads into orbit rather than recovery from it.
This paradigm began to shift with Musk.
As demand grows for recovering goods and equipment from orbit, re-entry capability has become crucial.
Heat-resistant tiles, designed for their low thermal conductivity, have been central to NASA's Space Shuttle program.
These shields dissipate heat by gradually burning away and absorb thermal energy through material phase changes. Ablative materials provide unparalleled protection in single-use applications but at the cost of being disposable.
A disruptive new approach to enhancing the performance of thermal protection systems (TPS) is the use of inflatable heat shields.
Both the United States and China are testing this technology.
Given that the future of space flight depends on reliable return capabilities, thermal shields may be the key to unlocking a truly reusable space economy.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829418252887043/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.