Ablative plating

Ablative plating, also called ablative armor or ablative shielding, is form of protective outer armor used on spacegoing vessels that mitigates impact and heat damage through the process of ablation.Ablative plating is typically composed of a thick coating of multi-layered ceramic. Vessels that travel in and out of planetary atmospheres depend on ablative plating to protect themselves from the heat of atmospheric reentry, while vessels traveling through open space depend on it for protection from meteoroid and micrometeoroid impacts. A meteoroid impact that would otherwise cripple or destroy a vessel will merely crack an ablative plate, dealing minimal damage to a ship's vital systems.

Ablative plating is designed primarily to protect from environmental hazards, and offers limited protection against starship-grade weapons, such as railguns, which can easily pierce it with a well-aimed shot.