LANL tests origami metal heat shield on suborbital flight

Los Alamos National Laboratory engineers recovered an experimental deployable metal heat shield after a successful suborbital flight from Spaceport America on Nov. 19, advancing a fast-turnaround approach to testing reentry hardware and sensors.

The hardware flew on UP Aerospace’s SpaceLoft-XL 18 rocket and reached about 72 miles altitude, roughly 116 kilometers, crossing the Kármán line and sampling a reentry profile. Cameras and onboard sensors recorded approximately 11 minutes of flight data. The recovery team retrieved the experiment and found no significant damage, indicating the origami-inspired aeroshell deployed and protected its payload as designed.

The heat shield concept, developed by LANL in partnership with Redwire Space and NASA Ames, opens in flight to slow descent and manage reentry heating without the mass and stiffness of a conventional heat shield. That deployable approach aims to reduce launch mass and stowage volume, traits that are especially valuable for small payloads and rapid experimental cycles.

For Los Alamos County the test matters on multiple fronts. LANL is a major local employer and technology hub; successful demonstrations increase the lab’s ability to iterate quickly on sensors and flight hardware, shortening development timelines for projects tied to national security, earth science, and planetary research. LANL staff have described frequent, lower-cost commercial flights like SpaceLoft-XL as enabling faster iteration for sensors and hardware tests, allowing engineers to learn from flight data and refine designs on a cadence much quicker than traditional government launches.

The flight also highlights the expanding commercial suborbital market and the local ecosystem that supports it. Spaceport America and private providers such as UP Aerospace and Redwire are creating repeatable, lower-cost access to near-space conditions, which reduces the barrier for national labs, universities, and small contractors to test flight-ready components. Economically, that builds potential contracting opportunities for area suppliers and strengthens Los Alamos’s role in applied aerospace research.

Policywise, more routine suborbital testing can shift how programs budget for technology maturation, with implications for procurement and R&D funding priorities. Rapid iteration reduces technical risk and can accelerate the transition of sensors and materials from laboratory demonstration to operational use.

The Nov. 19 flight was a clear technical proof point: the origami-inspired aeroshell survived its mission and returned valuable flight data with little to no damage to the experiment. For residents, that means continued local involvement in cutting-edge space work, potential new contracts and jobs, and a faster pace of technology development at LANL that could translate into practical benefits for regional research and industry.