At the University of Birmingham our research leads to new inventions and fuels innovation and business growth.
At atmospheric re-entry a spacecraft has such high speeds that the molecules of air are broken apart, generating electric plasma and such enormous heat that a special thermal protection system is required to enable the aircraft for further reuse.
This technology developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham is a novel composite ceramic material, that has been successfully demonstrated to withstand temperatures up to 3000 oC and be capable of withstanding both oxidisation and thermo-ablation. This composite offers greater protection at lower cost and with a smaller weight penalty than any other materials currently being researched.
