08/11/2026

Game-Changing 3-D Woven Thermal Protection System Technologies Support NASA Space Missions (8/11/26)

Over the past decade, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and its team of development partners have developed several unique thermal protection system (TPS) technologies designed to protect spacecraft from the extreme heat conditions and entry environments that space missions face. Working closely with the NASA Ames Research Center, Bally Ribbon Mills (BRM), along with several other partners, have developed a new generation of unique strong and robust materials produced using three-dimensional (3-D) weaving. In addition to use on existing missions, the new woven materials are expected to be used for future planetary missions, and the Department of Defense is currently evaluating their use in other defense missions. Outside of space applications, the processes used to develop the TPS technologies are now being used for numerous other applications. 3-D weaving offers significant benefits over other options Bally Ribbon Mills has been working to develop 3-D weaving since the company received a research contract from the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop the technology in the early 1990s. Alterations to existing looms ultimately led to the creation of a fully automated 3-D loom, which could create orthogonal, isotropic, and quasi-isotropic composites, as well as near-net-shape and complex net shape preforms. The looms have since been used to fabricate 3-D woven composite structures for the aerospace, automotive, construction, military, and safety industries. ?BRM's multi-dimensional (3-D) continuous weaving method produces multi-layer textiles which can be fabricated into net-shape structures for applications in aerospace. “3-D weaving is an emerging technology that offers a variety of benefits over both two-dimensional (2-D) composite production and more traditional building materials, like steel and aluminum,” says Curt Wilkinson, BRM’s Senior Textile Engineer. “Compared to traditional 2-D fabrics, 3-D weaving reduces weight, eliminates delamination often experienced with 2-D fabrics, reduces crack risks, and lowers production time. 3-D fabrics also offer direct and indirect manufacturing and operational cost reductions.” New materials needed for strong and robust compression pads A TPS protects a spacecraft from harsh heating. TPS materials are typically thermally robust, low-density insulators that are somewhat fragile. For the human-rated Orion vehicle, some crucial parts of the TPS need to be extremely strong as they are part of the vehicle structure. After the Orion’s 2014 Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), engineers determined that the existing materials used as the structural ablator would not work for future missions beyond low Earth orbit. The 2-D carbon phenolic material used for the EFT-1 compression pads has relatively low interlaminar strength and requires a metallic shear insert to handle structural loads. There were few options for materials that can meet the load demands of lunar return missions due to performance or part size limitations, so NASA began looking for a TPS technology tailored to the specific and unique needs of missions with human rated spacecraft. NASA’s Orion/Artemis mission is preparing for sending humans into deep space – with the ultimate goal of putting astronauts on Mars in the 2030s. NASA began considering the use of 3-D weaving technology for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), which uses compression pads that serve as the interface between the crew and service modules. The multiple pad locations in the heat shield serve as a part of the mechanism for holding the crew and service modules together during most mission phases prior to separation, followed by the crew module’s Earth reentry. The compression pads must carry the structural loads generated during the two modules’ launch, space operations, and pyroshock separation, and then serve as an ablative thermal protection system that can withstand the high heating of Earth reentry.