Propellant Depot Shields - ILC Dover

ILC in conjunction with the United Launch Alliance has been developing deployable sunshields for use on propellant resupply vehicles and for propellant storage depots under internal funding and an Innovative Partnership Program with NASA. Sunshields prevent solar and planetary radiation from heating propellant tanks and causing boil-off of the fluids. This prevents loss of the commodity which in effect reduces launch mass and launch costs.

The sunshield consists of multi-layer reflective membranes that provide the necessary insulation, and inflatable structures for deployment and support. Deployment control devices are embedded in the system to ensure proper deployment.


Key Sunshade Technologies

Pneumatically deployable booms

• Uses boil-off gas to deploy 6 separate shades
• Reliability from simplicity and redundancy

Large area, multi-layer sun shield

• Excellent thermal capability and very high mass efficiency for in-space cryogenic systems

Materials compatible with temperature extremes

• Cryogenic temperatures on cold side