On-Board Pressurization Systems for Sample Return Missions

To-date, the realization of high-performance liquid bipropellant rocket engines for ascent vehicle and sample return applications has largely been hindered by the inability to obtain "on-board" pressurization through a light-weight and low-complexity pump. Ventions seeks to fulfill this critical need by designing, fabricating and testing an electric pump for a Mars Ascent Vehicle compatible with LOX / propane produced via in-situ resource utilization to achieve significant performance improvements over the current baseline.

While the proposed pump-fed propulsion system has direct applications for Mars Ascent Vehicles and sample return missions, the enabling technology proposed herein overcomes a key challenge of providing on-board pressurization at the small-scale, thereby enabling a new generation liquid bipropellant rocket engines in the 100-5,000lbf thrust class, with a T/W ratio in excess of 100, and a vacuum Isp >300sec. Other NASA applications for such high-performance propulsion systems are therefore also likely to include lunar ascent / descent missions (precursor rovers, cargo, etc.), Near-Earth-Object (NEO) missions and outer planet orbit capture and insertion.

Beyond NASA applications, the proposed high-performance pumps are expected to have wide relevance to upper stage propulsion technology for small commercial launch vehicles, advanced Department of Defense vehicles such as XS-1, commercial lander missions, orbit insertion engines for commercial satellites, and apogee kick motors for orbit circularization of commercial satellites.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — 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.

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