In-Space Manufacturing and Servicing of High Emissivity Coatings for Satellite Servicing and Spacecraft Life Extension Applications

Lunar Resources , Inc., the corporate spinout of the NASA Wake Shield Facility program and technology leaders of in-space vacuum deposition, proposes with University of Houston to adapt LR’s space deposition system to manufacture high emissivity coatings on-orbit for USAF satellite servicing and space craft life extension missions. It is recognized that passive thermal systems present one of the largest barriers for satellite servicing as their emissive coatings degrade overtime due to the space environment. To overcome this challenge, we propose to fabricate these coatings directly on-orbit during nominal satellite servicing/refueling missions. The proposed effort will lay the foundation to repair and update degraded thermal systems on spacecraft to enable greater resiliency and lifetime of the USAF space fleet.