High Temperature Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage to Augment Solar Thermal Propulsion for Microsatellites
Abstract
Solar thermal propulsion (STP) offers an unique combination of thrust and efficiency, providing greater total V capability than chemical propulsion systems without the order of magnitude increase in total mission duration associated with electric propulsion. Despite a over 50 year development history, no STP spacecraft has flown to-date as both perceived and actual complexity have overshadowed the potential performance benefit in relation to conventional technologies. The trend in solar thermal research over the past two decades has been towards simplification and miniaturization to overcome this complexity barrier in an effort finally mount an in-flight test. A review of micropropulsion technologies recently conducted by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has identified solar thermal propulsion as a promising configuration for microsatellite missions requiring a substantial V and recommended further study. A STP system provides performance which cannot be matched by conventional propulsion technologies in the context of the proposed microsatellite inspector requiring rapid delivery of greater than 1500 m=s V . With this mission profile as the target, the development of an effective STP architecture goes beyond incremental improvements and enables a new class of microsatellite missions. Here, it is proposed that a bi-modal solar thermal propulsion system on a microsatellite platform can provide a greater than 50 increase in V vs. chemical systems while maintaining delivery times measured in days. The realization of a microsatellite scale bi-modal STP system requires the integration of multiple new technologies, and with the exception of high performance thermal energy storage, the long history of STP development has provided ready solutions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 30, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1002274
Entities
People
- Matthew R. Gilpin