NASA Heat Shield Tech Contributes to America’s Space Industry

This photo from January 29, 2026 captures the sequence taken by the Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule as it returned to Earth. The capsule uses a protective heat shield manufactured by Varda from an advanced material licensed from NASA. The material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive and more effective thermal protection coating for the capsules, allowing them – and their precious contents – to return safely to Earth.

Developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, C-PICA sets the standard for thermal shields, reflecting the decades of expertise NASA brings to the design, development and testing of innovative thermal shielding materials. This flight test of C-PICA produced by Varda was supported by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program.

Image credit: Varda Space Industries/William Godward