Welsh space company creates innovative shuttlecock heatshield.
Welsh space start-up, Space Forge, has developed a reusable heatshield called Pridwen that can protect spacecraft when they return to Earth. The large flexible sheet can be folded tightly for launch and then spring out like a shuttlecock to radiate away heat energy in excess of a thousand degrees. Pridwen is central to Space Forge's business model of flying a fleet of "mini factories" in orbit to manufacture high-value materials and components. The company is already thinking about expanding Pridwen technology to return material from the Moon and asteroids and even landing on Solar System bodies with an atmosphere.