GasPak: A High Output, Clean Gas Generator for Large Volume Deployable Aerodynamic Decelerators

Anbsp;large majority of commercial and NASA spacecraft mission types would benefit from the ability to have deployable aerodynamic decelerators. Beneficial applications include spacecraft returning to Earth from low Earth orbit, exploring other planetary bodies (e.g. descent to Mars, Venus, and Titan), and reducing the cost of access to space by enabling the recovery of launch vehicle assets.Current deployable aerodynamic decelerators are constrained by existing blowdown system limitations including mass efficiency, and long term storage of high pressure gas. Hydrogen, while an ideal candidate for its storage capacity, has high leak rates when considering long duration missions and transits. Gas generators provide a solution that has a higher density than cryogenic liquid hydrogen, however, these hydrogen generators are yet to be a space qualified technology.nbsp;In this effort, Outpost Technologies Corporation (Outpost) will develop GasPak which is a low mass and clean gas generator that will be used for hypersonic inflatables on space missions. In order to achieve this goal Outpost will leverage its relationship with Dutch company TNO to procure commercial off the shelf nitrogen gas generators to be used in a feasibility study and benchtop prototype. From these steps a hydrogen gas generator will be designed and brought to a PDR-level by the end of Phase I. By the end of Phase II, the gas generator will reach TRL-8 by being demonstrated on an orbital Outpost mission with Earth return.