NASA Offering Inflatable Heat Shield For SmallSats | Aviation Week

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Irene Klotz
August 24, 2026

nasaheat

Credit: David Bowman/NASA

SALT LAKE CITY—NASA is looking to scale down and standardize a flight-proven inflatable heat shield for small satellite operators. The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator mission flew as a secondary payload on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in November 2022…

Irene Klotz

Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.

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