Radiation Shielding for Space Electronics in Severe Environments

NASA has identified a need for radiation shielding for electronics in extreme environments. NanoSonic is a small, advanced materials company with expertise in the development of advanced shielding and protective materials for use in cryogenic through thermonuclear conditions. In this program, we have developed extremely low glass transition temperature polymer matrix resins (< 125 C) fortified with new MXene materials (at right) as electronics shielding for use in harsh Europa and Lunar missions. These durable materials are designed to outperform 0.1 in thick aluminum for 10-years of service and radiation levels of 2.9 Mrad TID (total ionizing dose). Mechanical properties for our filament wound structures are maintained upon exposure to 1 GeV Fe and 1 GeV proton, and the matrix constituent survives extremely high secondary neutron flux of 114.26 hr, 117 MeV, under a 150 uA primary proton beam. Dual-use X-ray attenuation of 100% has been achieved and can be tailored for mechanical resiliency as a function of mass density. Commercialization is ongoing as these special radiation shields are being used in two CubeSat launches planned for the next calendar year. NanoSonic is producing these shielding boxes with the new materials tailored here for cryogenic durability. During Phase II, microelectronics from our partners and from NanoSonic’s Quantum Electronics and Sensors Division will be used in test scenarios at the Brookhaven National Laboratory NASA Space Radiation Laboratory.

NanoSonic is supporting two CubeSat launches in 2025. The first launch is being organized by NASA’s Ames Research Center and the second is being organized by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In this SBIR, NanoSonic is scaling our RF and radiation shielding enclosures to panels greater than 50 square feet with project mass densities 50% lighter relative to COTS composites. The primary goals for this program in addition to the planned CubeSat flight include future Lunar missions and those similar to the Europa Clipper. NanoSonic is a small, advanced materials company with expertise in of advanced shielding materials for cryogenic through thermonuclear missions. In this NASA SBIR program, electronics shielding is being tailored for the harsh cyrogenic conditions specific to the Europa Clipper with a mission life of 10 years, where the radiation environment severe, and future Lunar missions.

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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