Publisher Summary Development and detail engineering of the main components of the plasma vessel thermal insulation and the interfaces to adjacent port tubes is finished and production is starting. The chosen MLI system is crinkled Kapton® foils with vapor-deposited aluminium on both sides, and with glass paper as spacers in between. The actively cooled thermal shield consists of epoxy-glass resin panels which contain three copper mesh layers each for sufficient thermal conductivity. The cryostat thermal insulation of the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is being built by MAN DWE and its main sub-contractor Linde AG. The complex geometry and narrow gaps to the superconducting coils require innovative solutions concerning the multi-layer insulation (MLI) as well as the shield and its supports. The surface facing the coils is covered by adhesive Al-foil to reduce emissivity. Each shield panel is supported by one firm support near the center and several “loose” supports which allow in-plane gliding for thermal contraction compensation. The shield supports consist of Torlon® tubes. They are bolted to the PV, and at the cold ends the panels are clamped between two disks. Each panel is cooled by two cooling pipes which are thermally contacted via flexible copper braids.