Abstract: Starting from the source of aerodynamic thermal load, the principles and progress of a new thermal protection mechanism based on the physical mechanism of flow control, optical radiation control, atomic reorganization, and electron dissipation are introduced. The active control of convection heat, chemical heat and radiant heat is realized from the aspects of regulating environment and materials, the characteristics and shortcomings of the development of a new thermal protection mechanism for hypersonic vehicles are further analyzed, and the suggestions on the key directions of future research in this field are put forward.

Key words: Hypersonic vehicle, Thermal protection mechanism; Convective heat, Chemical heat, Radiant heat