This mission saw Space Forge successfully deploy our novel heatshield, Pridwen, aboard a parabolic flight facilitated by world leader in zero gravity flights, ZeroG.
Through multiple experiments across two days, Space Forge was able to gather data on both nominal (full) and off-nominal (partial) deployments, that will be analysed and learnings applied to the deployment of the shield on Forgestar-1.
Named after the legendary shield of King Arthur, Pridwen is designed to ensure safe atmospheric re-entry and satellite recovery. Its high temperature material combats heat flux through radiation - as opposed to the ablation technique employed by standard heat shields - while its shuttlecock-style shield serves as a parachute to enable a safe landing for descending satellites.
This mission brought Space Forge closer to demonstrating Pridwen’s first full deployment in orbit - a crucial step toward making space manufacturing scalable, sustainable, and repeatable.
