The atmospheric re-entry of spacecraft requires high-performance thermal protection systems (TPSs) to withstand extreme heat loads. EU-funded researchers developed a system that could reduce dependence on foreign space technologies.
For missions like a sample return to Earth or the entry into the atmosphere of a gas giant planet like Jupiter, the thermal loads are far higher than those encountered during re-entry from low Earth orbit. Such missions are in general hard to realise and particularly dependent on the amount of weight of the space vehicle.
Further details: Hybrid ablative/ceramic shield for re-entry