Short notice given only substantially as follows: Space transportation systems which include an entry capability will face a very harsh thermal and mechanical environment mainly during the entry phase. Therefore hot structures or thermal protection systems are required to protect the vehicle. These systems are one of the major design driver of such vehicles and will influence the efficiency and performance. During the last 20 years Astrium Space Transportation was involved in the development of thermal protection systems and hot structures. In several programs different types of such components were developed and in the meantime these systems have reached a high technical readiness level. Today the available technologies allow to provide all the required thermal protection for the entire entry vehicle with the most efficient systems for the different areas of the vehicle. Based on the example of a re-entry demonstrator and its possible overall design concept for HS & TPS the application of the different technologies are explained. For very hot areas, e.g. nose, body flaps, wing leading edges, hot structure concepts are available based on the Astrium C/SiC technology. For windward areas the application of ceramic stand-off TPS, metallic TPS or surface protected insulation is possible depending on the maximum expected heat load during re-entry. On the leeward side where low dynamic pressure is expected, different types of flexible external insulation could be used. The final configuration is a matter of an optimization process where criteria as feasibility, mass, costs, performance etc. have to be considered. The different systems have reached different development status/technical readiness levels. Most of them are already pre-qualified in a representative environment and ready for use. The next step of the development should be a real flight qualification in a demonstrator mission before these components can be applied for an operational system.
Current developments for hot structures and thermal protection system for space entry vehicles
2009
1 Seite
Conference paper
Storage medium
English
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