Geometrically Shape Stiffened Thin Film Shells: An Approach to Enable Nanosatellite Subsystem that Require Large Surface Areas

A family of geometrically shape stiffened thin film shells that will enable large deployable surface areas components for nanosatellite applications is proposed. These thin film shell substrates, based on space rated polyimide materials, offer theability to enable large surface area systems that are extremely light weight, stow compactly, deterministically and passively self deploy upon release, and self rigidize in the desired shape. These structures will enable many common satellite functions onnanosatellites that 1) rely on surface area and/or diameter for improved performance, and 2) would otherwise be infeasible (due to cost, volume, or mass constraints) to implement. Some examples that could be enabled include deployable thin-film solararrays, parabolic communication apertures, sun shields, thermal radiative cooling surface, etc. In Phase I we will review the possible applications, downselect to one to focus upon, establish the feasibility of the design through computer simulation,engineering analysis, and simple testing. In Phase II, we will demonstrate a brassboard test item using non-flight hardware and conduct testing in a simulated space environment (microgravity and in vacuum deployment, thermal-vac, etc.). This activity willprepare the way for flight demos and Phase III transition to DoD and commercialization opportunities.