An iridium/rhenium (Ir/Re) double-layer coat-ing was prepared on carbon/carbon (C/C) composites by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and electrodeposition.The morphologies and bond strengths of the coatings on the C/C substrate were examined.The ablation resistance of the Ir/Re coating was studied at 1800 ℃ in an oxy-acetylene torch flame for 300 s.The results show that Re interlayer increases the bond strength between Ir coating and C/C substrate by over 100 %.During entire high-temperature ablation process,Ir/Re coating keeps intact without any signs of ablation damage.Ir coating gets smoother and the grain size becomes larger after ablation,with the preferred orientation changing from <311> to<220>.Although some voids are observed along the grain boundaries of the as-ablated Ir coating,Ir/Re coating keeps intact on C/C composites.The study indicates that Ir/Re coating can provide good ablation resistance up to 1800 ℃for C/C composites,especially for the continuous ablation applications.