A High-Performance, High Capacity Turboalternator for Cooling Electro-Optical Payloads

Future Department of Defense (DoD) space-borne electro-optical payloads will require reliable, efficient, and lightweight cryocoolers for sensor cooling. Turbo-Brayton cryocoolers are ideal candidates for these payloads. The technology is reliable and space proven with one unit having provided over 6 years of successful operations on the Hubble Space Telescope without any change in performance. Recent advances in component technologies have dramatically reduced the mass and increased the efficiency of turbo-Brayton cryocoolers. Current turbo-Brayton cryocoolers are comparable in mass and efficiency with competing cryocooler technologies at modest loads and higher, and they have the inherent integration benefits of negligible vibration emittance and the ability to cool distributed loads and loads distant from the heat rejection site with minimal performance penalties. During this program, we will develop a high performance turboalternator, a critical cryocooler component that will enable landmark reductions in cryocooler input power and overall payload mass. BENEFIT: The result of this program will be an advanced component for turbo-Brayton cryocoolers. The resulting cryocooler addresses the near-term needs for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System and the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance programs and will be applicable to future space-based surveillance and missile-defense systems. Scientific applications include space-based infrared telescopes. Commercial applications include communication satellites and high-temperature superconducting devices.