Brussels, 19 Nov 2002
The European Space Agency's (ESA) fourth European workshop on hot structures and thermal protection systems (TPS) for space vehicles will be held from 26 to 29 November in the Sicilian capital Palermo.
The event will bring together global representatives from industry, research centres, universities, and national and international space agencies to review progress and future activities in this field of technology.
'In this [area] Europe [...] is making a significant effort to select the requirements for new generation space transportation systems, the main goal being to reduce the costs of access to space,' explains Giorgio Tumino, ESA's Head of hot structures and thermal protection systems.
The conference will look particularly at problems of analysis, design, fabrication, testing and use of hot structures and TPS as part of the wider effort to develop lightweight, reusable spacecraft that will reduce the cost of space travel.
Europe is at the leading edge of innovation in this field, as evidenced by its contribution to the development of TPS for the joint ESA/NASA X38 experimental vehicle, considered to be among the most advanced in existence.
For further information, please consult the following web address: http://www.estec.esa.nl/conferences/02C0 2/index.html