Just like the ClearSpace-1 robotic capture system, Space Forge’s Pridwen will be tested by the European Space Agency (ESA) with an actual atmospheric reentry. Called Pridwen, named after King Arthur’s shield, this reusable, origami-insapired heat shield will be deployed before a spacecraft reenters the atmosphere.
Rather than removing unwanted heat with ablation, Pridwen utilizes radiation. In other words, its high temperature alloy fabric has a sufficiently high surface to allow heat flux to spread evenly across it and gradually radiate away. A prototype heat shield is set to be launched aboard the company’s inaugural ForgeStar-1A mission later this year.
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Supermaterials made in space will be able to save industries on Earth enormous amounts of energy, limiting their CO2 emissions in a way their terrestrial counterparts can never match. Pridwen and Fielder are key parts of our plan to develop fully reusable manufacturing satellites that can kick start a new industrial revolution,” said Andrew Bacon, CTO and co-founder of Space Forge.