A Russian space launch will test an innovative European design for a magnetic heat shield. The design, created by scientists from several countries, uses a superconducting magnet to produce an intense magnetic field which will in theory push superheated air away from the re-entry vehicle as it plunges back to Earth. This could reduce or even remove the need for heavy ablative shielding currently carried by re-entry vehicles that are intended to reach the planet’s surface intact.

The heat shield will be launched into a suborbital trajectory by a Russian submarine, and will follow a trajectory to land in Russia’s isolated and sparsely-populated Kamchatka territory. The test vehicle could launch as soon as three years from regulatory approval, according to a spokesman for the developers of the device. Technical issues still remain to be solved, particularly the hardening of the superconducting coils to withstand flight and launch stresses.

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Bob Hayes is the senior partner at DocRocket, a web content and writing services company. He is a freelance business consultant with particular expertise in software, Internet business development, and operational efficiency. In addition he maintains a personal blog at Bob Hayes Online.

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