Flywheel Energy Storage for Lunar Rovers & Other Small Spacecraft

NASA continues to be interested in returning to the Lunar surface. The Lunar surface is a harsh and unforgiving environment. Perhaps most challenging is the drastic and length thermal cycle surface equipment will experience on the surface. Standard spacecraft electronics and batteries cannot survive the extremes of the Lunar thermal cycle and must be protected by a thermal control system (TCS) that often features Plutonium-238 which is an expensive, strictly controlled material that is not a viable option for lower cost or commercial missions. An alternative approach would be an extreme environment flywheel energy storage system that could supply enough power to heat the critical electronics during the Lunar night. Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation (Honeybee) proposes to develop an extreme environment Flywheel Energy Storage (FES) system that enables a small spacecraft (e.g., 200 kg Lunar Rover) to repeatedly survive the long, cold Lunar night. The FES system will also supply operational power during the Lunar day.

An extreme environment Flywheel Energy Storage system for small spacecraft capable of operating at the Lunar day/night temperature extremes could benefit future Lunar missions like the Resource Prospector Mission or Lunar Quest. In addition, NASA will benefit from commercial ventures that employ this technology as science and technology demonstrations will be more affordable for NASA. NASA Outer Planets missions would also benefit from an FES such as the one proposed.

Beyond NASA and "Commercial Space" applications, other potential applications exist on Earth. These include (1) UAV power supplies, (2) Subsea ROV/UUV power supplies , (3) Downhole/In-Well power supplies for oil & gas industry. An extreme temperature FES "batteries" could potentially allow downhole logging equipment to operate at greater depths than those attainable using these existing high temperature batteries. Honeybee has received interest from oil and gas companies looking for alternative to electrochemical batteries. The advancement of the technology during the proposed effort will go a long way towards reducing technical risk, not just for planetary exploration, but for the application to terrestrial environments as well.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.