Bringing Shuttle Orbiter TPS into the 21st Century (SL-TPS - ACO )

This proposal seeks to test and verify the aeroheating performance of thermal protection system (TPS) technologies manufactured from commercially available, off-the-shelf (COTS) raw material constituents in relevant, aerothermally-representative orbital reentry and hypersonic flight environments within a ground-based arc jet test facility at NASA Ames. Raw materials historically used to manufacture certain thermal protection systems are no longer available due to the primary customer, the Space Shuttle Orbiter fleet, having been retired in 2011. Without a customer base to sustain the supply chain necessary to support these technologies, the availability of these TPS technologies has all but disappeared. It has become prohibitively difficult to obtain remaining heritage materials due to their restricted allocation for only the most high-profile projects or prime aerospace contractor applications. Eventually, even these reserve heritage materials will run out. Updating the processes required to manufacture these technologies with modern commercial off-the-shelf material feedstocks and verifying their performance against known standards will make them available and attractive to rapidly growing aerospace markets (entry and hypersonic) at a lower cost. Verifying equivalent or better performance in an arc jet test facility is a universally accepted method and a necessary stepping stone in the development of any orbital reentry or hypersonic vehicle thermal protection system. Several customers across the domestic aerospace industrial base, including NASA, have shown considerable interest in these thermal protection system material technologies. NASA continues to need this kind of TPS for Orion and other missions, and will benefit from updated materials and processes used in the proposed effort.

Stratolaunch intends use revitalized Space Shuttle thermal protection systems for their Talon-A vehicles. Revitalization using contemporary materials offers substantial promise in achieving improved aerothermal performance while facilitating commercial TPS availability for rapid vehicle production. In the proposed work we intend to test modernized Shuttle thermal protection technologies in the NASA Ames Research Center's Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) to meet and exceed previous thermal performance thresholds for broader industry impact. Since these thermal protection system technologies continue to be used by NASA's own missions and vehicles, such as Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehcile (MPCV), there is a direct benefit to verifying the performance of udpated versions of the materials since the Space Shuttle stockpile of TPS has a finite lifetime. By using commercial off-the-shelf raw materials, there is reduced risk in specialized materials and processes resulting in near-term requalification need once the new thermal protection system materials are proven in a relevant environment.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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