Resilient/Non-sticking Exoatmospheric Seal Material/Mechanism

Starsys, Inc. (Boulder, CO) specializes in the development and commercialization of cover systems for space applications, including non-sticking, low-out-gassing seal technologies. Under an on-going Phase I STTR with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Starsys is developing an all-metal, Knife Edge/Indium Gland seal technology that provides a promising solution to seal sticking and out-gassing issues. The system is capable of providing a low leak rate seal which is repeatable and durable. This seal also can be modified for direct application on the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) vehicle Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) to support both reliable sealing of the optical instrument and reliable, low-force deployment of the instrument cover. Figure 1 shows the EKV vehicle. The proposed STTR Phase II effort will focus on the optical sun-shade cover seal application. Starsys will provide a cover seal design compatible with Raytheon’s KV requirements, with key performance criteria verified at the prototype level. Design, manufacture, and test shall be a collaborative effort between Starsys and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder (CU-LASP). A Phase II option program will provide MDA and Raytheon with an optical sun-shade cover seal system critical design review, optical sun-shade cover seal qualification unit and test program, and an optical sun-shade cover seal proto-flight unit for further evaluation and testing at Raytheon. Likewise, under the Phase II option program additional seal applications with the vehicle will be investigated and suitable solutions prototype tested.