High Thermal Performance Booms and Integrated ACS

Opterus proposes the development of High Thermal Performance Booms enabling low complexity, mass efficient solar sail attitude control systems for missions 0.40 AU and nearer to the Sun. Solar sails harness radiation pressure from the Sun for propulsion, negating the need for exhaustible propellants. As solar sails travel closer to the Sun their operational efficiency increases. This can be leveraged for dynamic orbital sling shot maneuvers around the Sun to achieve high velocities for interstellar exploration. Additionally, the increased solar radiation pressure allows solar sails to combat the Sun’s gravitational pull to achieve rapid decelerations for observational missions near the sun. To take advantage of the strong radiation pressure near the Sun, solar sail components must be able to survive and operate in the inherently more extreme thermal environment. With the funding allocated for this program high performance boom architectures will be adapted for manufacturability with high thermal performance materials that will enable the structure integrated attitude control approach previously developed by Opterus. This technology will address current gaps in thermal survivability for sail controls and structures enabling near term and future science missions for NASA and NOAA.