Several thermal protective systems of hypersonic vehicles were reviewed. The aero鄄thermal character鄄
istics of sharp leading edge and the trend of the corresponding thermal protective materials on hypersonic air鄄breathing
vehicles were analyzed. The research programs including Hytech, X43A and NGLTH which were proposed in recent
twenty years in USA were introduced. The development of sharp leading edge materials and the correlative aero鄄heat鄄
ing tests were described in detail.