ASTRA SPACE OPERATIONS, INC. — National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Phase I: The proposed effort aims to evaluate the feasibility of using transpiration-cooled Titaniu
ASTRA SPACE OPERATIONS, INC. — SBIR Phase I award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- Amount
- $99,437
- Agency
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Program / Phase
- SBIR · Phase I
- NAICS
- —
- Place of performance
- CA
- Period
- 2011-02-18 → 2011-09-29
Description
The proposed effort aims to evaluate the feasibility of using transpiration-cooled Titanium as the primary material in small-scale thrust chambers for in-space chemical propulsion applications in the 25-5,000lbf thrust class. This approach would allow for bipropellant thrust chambers that are almost 10-times lighter and significantly less expensive than current state-of-the-art radiatively-cooled refractory metal (e.g. Iridium / Rhenium) systems. In addition, since they are actively cooled, the proposed approach will allow for higher chamber pressures, thereby providing further reductions in thruster size and mass for performance improvement.