Fabric, Inflated, Insulating Shroud for Cryogenic In-Space Transportation, Phase I

The proposed system will allow less that 0.5 W/m^2 of heat penetration to a cryogen enhancing the prospect of passive zero-boil-off cryogenic propellant tanks while providing launch tolerance and integrated MMOD protection. Successful development results in a low risk, low mass, shroud solution that can be applied to nearly any mission and is especially useful in support of soft or hard sided habitation modules or propellant tanks, including cryogens, to protect them from the thermal and MMOD environments of space. Compared to existing systems, this technology reduces the cost, schedule, and risk associated with the MMOD and thermal aspects of space operations. The system will be mature enough to be considered for future propellant depots, on-orbit storage of upper stages, space stations, and manned habitats both in space and in near-vacuum planetary missions such as a return to the Moon, Mars orbit, Phobos/Deimos or asteroid missions. The United Launch Alliance has already expressed interest in this concept both as a stand alone inflated payload shroud and as an enabling technology for on-orbit assembly or propellant storage for large cryogenic systems for exploration class missions. Additionally, the proposed system would be ideal for inflatable on orbit tourist habitats, as protection of interstage propellant tanks and commercial satellites and for storage of collected insitu resources in commercial lunar or asteroid resource gathering operations. It also may have applicability to provide self rigidized structures with integrated ballistic protection for the Department of Defense (DoD). More »