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Active TRL 6 (started at 4, targeting 9)
The Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) was designed and built for the ISS as part of the regenerative life support system and has been producing oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) for over 13 years. Sparing for hardware failures is done at the Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU) level and in some cases multiple large spare units are kept on orbit. Failed ORUs are returned, refurbished and re-flown. Future Exploration Programs will not have the luxury to have cargo vehicle to supply spare hardware or the stowage volume to store multiple large ORUs. The Advanced Oxygen Generation Assembly (AOGA) system is delivering a replacement for the H2 ORU. New, separate H2 and RSA Domes (as combined these are termed the Oxygen Hydrogen Dome Assembly or OHDA) will allow for more efficient placement in the vehicle and both systems will be maintainable by the crew on orbit allowing for smarter sparing and less stowage volume. The system was also designed to allow for periods of dormancy via the inclusion of nitrogen purge and recirculation loop flush equipment, and makes use of an improved cell stack that utilizes updated industry standard materials and will increase both shelf life and installed life.
The AOGA is being designed as an upgrade to the OGA with improvements being made for extensibility to Exploration Programs. AOGA will offer more maintainability on orbit, less maintenance and sparing, taking up less volume and lower total system mass. OGA on ISS will be upgraded in place to the AOGA configuration, with the ability to revert to OGA within 3 days if necessary.
Procurement of AOGA began in 2018 with a series of special studies to determine targeted upgrades and down-select design options. Delivery of the AOGA mod kit is planned for early calendar year 2026 with launch to ISS in the fall. The upgraded AOGA components will be installed directly into the legacy Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack in LAB1P1 and operated for a minimum of three years on ISS which encompasses the existing baseline reference Mars Transit mission. Spare components are being procured with the intent of replacing failed items as necessary to extend use of AOGA on ISS. Assuming AOGA success, this configuration is intended to permanently replace the legacy OGA system through the end of the ISS Program.
The use of current industry standards for cell stack design and build (chemically stabilized Nafion material, better membrane supports, etc) are intended to increase overall shelf life and operational life.
The new design configuration, with two maintainable pressure domes (one for the cell stack and one for the rotary separator accumulator), will enable component-level replacement of failed parts. This is anticipated to reduce the mass and volume of AOGA spares for future Exploration missions.
The incorporation of a purge and flush kit will enable periods of dormancy that are a part of the Mars transit mission baseline, as well as allow the recirculation loop water to be flushed and cleaned which can remove contaminants that accumulate over time and might affect downstream equipment.
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