Session
Session II: Bold New Missions Using "Breakthrough Technologies" I
Abstract
Recent advances in Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), Elastic Memory Composites (EMC), and ultra- light composites along with thin-film Copper-Indium- Diselinide (CIS) photovoltaics have offered the potential to provide solar array systems for small satellites that are significantly lighter than the current state of the practice. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Lockheed Martin are jointly sponsoring an effort that will develop and, in partnership with AeroAstro, demonstrate advanced technologies for solar array applications. These technologies will result in advances that include cost, weight, risk, reliability, and power. Conventional state-of-the-practice solar arrays utilize rigid honeycomb panels to provide the structural support for the crystalline Silicon (Si) or Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells. Rigid composite panel structural and manufacturing methods have placed a practical producible limit on the power to weight efficiency of today’s solar panels. This limit is about 60 Watts per kilogram (W/kg). New technologies are needed to break this power to weight barrier and meet future DOD and NASA space power requirements. A potential solution to this problem, are the technologies that are being developed under the Lightweight Flexible Solar Array (LFSA) program. The LFSA will demonstrate key technologies on four space flights. The first space opportunity consisted of a flight experiment of a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) deployment hinge that was demonstrated on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93) in July 1999. The second flight opportunity consisted of a sub-scale twopanel solar array that was demonstrated on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 spacecraft in November 2000. The third and fourth flight opportunities will transition thin-film solar arrays into SSC02-II-2 Fosness, Eugene 2 16th Annual/USU Conference on Small Satellites operational spacecraft systems, specifically on the AeroAstro/Astronautic Technology Sdn. Bhd. (ATSB) Small Payload ORbit Transfer (SPORT™) vehicle in 2003 and the Team Encounter solar sail in 2004. The synergistic merging of the new, innovative technologies into an advanced lightweight thin- film solar array will meet the requirements of the emerging next generation of small satellites. The implementation of these new techno logies directed at lightweight solar arrays will result in significant weight and volume reductions over current satellite systems. The SMA devices will provide a controlled shock-less deployment of the solar array and improved testability due to mechanism re-set capability. Additionally, the SMA actuators will eliminate or minimize deployment motors, mechanisms, and part count. The LFSA program is a pathfinder for next generation rollout arrays that increase specific power densities to >200 W/kg.
Next Generation Solar Array Technologies for Small Satellites
Recent advances in Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), Elastic Memory Composites (EMC), and ultra- light composites along with thin-film Copper-Indium- Diselinide (CIS) photovoltaics have offered the potential to provide solar array systems for small satellites that are significantly lighter than the current state of the practice. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Lockheed Martin are jointly sponsoring an effort that will develop and, in partnership with AeroAstro, demonstrate advanced technologies for solar array applications. These technologies will result in advances that include cost, weight, risk, reliability, and power. Conventional state-of-the-practice solar arrays utilize rigid honeycomb panels to provide the structural support for the crystalline Silicon (Si) or Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) solar cells. Rigid composite panel structural and manufacturing methods have placed a practical producible limit on the power to weight efficiency of today’s solar panels. This limit is about 60 Watts per kilogram (W/kg). New technologies are needed to break this power to weight barrier and meet future DOD and NASA space power requirements. A potential solution to this problem, are the technologies that are being developed under the Lightweight Flexible Solar Array (LFSA) program. The LFSA will demonstrate key technologies on four space flights. The first space opportunity consisted of a flight experiment of a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) deployment hinge that was demonstrated on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93) in July 1999. The second flight opportunity consisted of a sub-scale twopanel solar array that was demonstrated on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 spacecraft in November 2000. The third and fourth flight opportunities will transition thin-film solar arrays into SSC02-II-2 Fosness, Eugene 2 16th Annual/USU Conference on Small Satellites operational spacecraft systems, specifically on the AeroAstro/Astronautic Technology Sdn. Bhd. (ATSB) Small Payload ORbit Transfer (SPORT™) vehicle in 2003 and the Team Encounter solar sail in 2004. The synergistic merging of the new, innovative technologies into an advanced lightweight thin- film solar array will meet the requirements of the emerging next generation of small satellites. The implementation of these new techno logies directed at lightweight solar arrays will result in significant weight and volume reductions over current satellite systems. The SMA devices will provide a controlled shock-less deployment of the solar array and improved testability due to mechanism re-set capability. Additionally, the SMA actuators will eliminate or minimize deployment motors, mechanisms, and part count. The LFSA program is a pathfinder for next generation rollout arrays that increase specific power densities to >200 W/kg.
