heat shield

noun

: a barrier of ablative material to protect a space capsule from heat on its entry into an atmosphere

Examples of heat shield in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Three of those satellites also beamed back imagery of Starship’s heat shield, which must remain intact to ensure the spacecraft doesn’t break apart and burn up during reentry. — Lee Billings, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2026

What’s more, SpaceX has equipped three of the satellites with cameras made to look back at Starship and capture images of its heat shield following deployment. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 28 Sep. 2026

Starship is outfitted with about 20,000 hexagonal tiles, forming a heat shield, to prevent the vehicle from melting, but reentry is still a precarious process. — Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 28 Sep. 2026

SpaceX is testing key systems of the Starship vehicle, like its heat shield. — Brendan Byrne, NPR, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for heat shield

• afield
• airfield
• annealed
• appealed
• brownfield
• coalfield
• concealed
• congealed
• cornfield
• downfield
• goldfield
• hayfield

Kids Definition

heat shield

noun

: a barrier of insulation to protect a space capsule from heat on its return to earth