The CMC Thermal Protection System of the ATHEAt Hypersonic Vehicle

Kurzfassung

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) carries out a flight research program focused on developing technologies for RLV systems which is based on sounding rocket flights carrying experimental vehicles. The objective for ATHEAt is to increase the Mach number and the duration of flight at high Mach number further. The TPS design of the ATHEAt vehicle will feature new developments, both in terms of the structure manufacturing and the TPS design. Specifically, there are four moveable flaps integrated into the TPS. In addition to the function of protecting the vehicle from the environment, the TPS elements also serve as carrier structures for a large number of sensors to collect the flight data. The paper will give an overview about the design and the development of the TPS elements.