From the very beginning of the development of materials for thermal protection of the reusable spaceship, it was obvious that the silica fiber tiles could not be attached directly on the metal casing of the spaceship. That is why the damping substrates were required. In addition, a variety of materials, including heat-resistant inserts for protection of gaps between the covering tiles was needed. VIAM developed a number of non-woven materials from polymer fibers, which had all necessary properties, starting from the thermal stability and up to a high reliability of operation under space conditions. The paper describes the main properties of heat-resistant polymer fibers and physical and mechanical properties of ATM-15, ATM-16 and ATM-19 non-woven materials based on these fibers in initial state, after impregnation with waterproofing emulsion and after application of an additional erosion-resistant coating. As a result, ATM-16 and ATM-19 materials were marked as ATM-16PKP and ATM-19PKP respectively. Intertiled gaps were filled with inserts from fire resistant material (marked as MTU) to provide a monolithic surface of the heat-resistant layer. The article presents properties of ATM-16PKP and ATM-19PKP materials.

Components of a skin material for the three-layer shutter of the effective load compartment were developed according to the requirements of the technical assignment. The skin is based on Elur 0,08P carbon tape and a fabric made from SVM organic threads. Complex researches of physical and mechanical properties of the combined skin (KMU-4e0,08+SVM) and frame (KMU-4e0,08) within the temperature range from -130 up to +160°С, assessment of an influence of humidity in combination with temperature cycling simulating the seasonal (±60°) and diurnal (±30°) variations in temperature, researches of bearing capacity of panels at compression, bending, shift and uniform tearing, and also studies of service life of the panel allowed one to confirm operability of KMU-4e0,08 carbon plastic as an external layer of the shutter skin in combination with «Organit» organic plastic based on SVM fibers (fabric of 5405/74 mark) as an intermediate layer and KMU-4e0,08 carbon plastic as the base material of frames, beams and splice plates. A technology for surface preparation of 0,38 mm thick skin prior to adhesion with PSP-1 honeycomb filler and heat-shielding tiles is developed. The production technology was developed and four sets of shutters were manufactured. Application of CFRP shutter allowed one to reduce weight by 640 kg as compared with an analogues metal construction.

Carbon-carbon composite materials are a new class of structural materials intended for creation of thermally loaded airframe components of earth-to-orbit vehicles and hypersonic aircraft, gas turbine engines, nozzle parts of missiles, aircraft brakes, metallurgy-purposed tooling, etc. They have a unique ability to retain high strength and stiffness at temperatures up to 2500°С, and application of anti-oxidation and barrier coating systems provide their operability in oxidizing agents.

5T Organit aramid-based organic plastic was developed for ventilation system of «Buran» reusable spaceship to provide structural stiffness, tightness and resistance to accident-caused damages of thin-walled air duct pipes.

External surfaces of «Buran» spaceship had to be covered with special thermal protective materials. In their turn, these materials also needed a reliable protection against erosion and moisture. A number of works carried out at VIAM allowed to develop such coatings and a technology for their application, including application between flights of the spaceship.

The present paper gives an overview of the creation of waterproofing organosilicon compositions and developments in the field of primary and repeated waterproofing of elements of heat-resistant structure, the main component of which is the tiles based on superfine quartz fibers. Development of methods of waterproof treatment between flights is also emphasized. Operational efficiency of waterproofing compositions based on superfine quartz fiber (TZMK-10 and TZMK-25) is confirmed with positive results of post-flight control of waterproofing coatings of the heat-protective elements dismantled from the round-trip flight vehicles.

A list of adhesive materials used in «Buran» spaceship structures, as well as their basic physical and mechanical properties and ways of application are given. Application fields of the mentioned materials are presented.

Test results of coatings of different purposes (anticorrosive, thermoregulating, sublimating and other coatings) based on epoxy resins, silicone resins and fluorcopolymeric film-forming substances were considered as applied to service conditions of «Buran» reusable spaceship.

A number of steels and alloys, such as VZHL16, VNS-5, VNS-17, VZH122, 95H18, 13H15N4AM3 and 07H16N6Sh were developed and selected for manufacture of friction components. These materials combine high wear resistance, hardness, strength, heat resistance and corrosion resistance. Chemical composition and manufacturing process of antifriction composite coating (Ta–Ag–VAP-2) workable in air and in vacuum at temperatures from -130 up to +300°C under specific loads up to 200 MPa were developed to provide service life up to 100 flights and reliability of friction units with the friction coefficient up to 0.2. Corrosion tests of samples coated with Ta–Ag–VAP-2 in salt spray chamber KST-3 with spraying a 5% NaCl solution at 35°C (5 minutes - spraying, 20 minutes - pause) showed that the antifriction composite coating does not corrode and does not cause corrosion of the substrate. An effect of radiation exposure (2,68 and 2,8 МGy) on antifriction properties of VAP-2 coating was investigated. The tests have shown that the strength and antifriction properties of VAP-2 coating remained practically unchanged upon the exposure under radiation.

The complete quality control of materials and components made from them is an obligatory requirement to define the reliability of reusable spaceships. Finished parts can be examined by the non-destructive methods only. Several methods were worked out to test carbon-carbon composite materials. One of them is the acoustic shadow test method, which is most effective for testing under production conditions. The other control methods (impedance technique, free oscillation technique) allow quality examination of parts in case of the one-side access to the tested object.