Engineered Solar Reflective Coating with High Infrared Transparency

Thermal management is an enduring need for all space platforms and vehicles. Spacecraft are routinely exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations, and options for regulating temperature in the vacuum of space are limited and challenging. To address spacecraft temperature fluctuations, Plasmonics Inc. has been developing a new class of mission-tailorable, and autoregulating, thermal radiators. The primary limitation with Plasmonics Inc.’s current state of the art variable emissivity materials (VEM) is their high solar absorptivity. An ideal VEM surface should have low solar absorptivity, to help mitigate solar loading. The surface should also be conductive to help mitigate electrical charge build up. To address these needs, Plasmonics Inc proposes to develop a new-class of radiator overcoats for VEMs and other similar radiator systems with high solar reflectivity, infrared transparency, and high conductivity. The team has identified three candidate coating technologies which we will investigate. After downselect, the team will fabricate a coating prototype on silicon and verify the visible reflectance and infrared transparency. A successful coating will find utility in a wide range of markets with the commercial satellites and smart surfaces as the most promising.

NASA has an enduring requirement to reduce the mass, volume, and power of thermal control systems which are vital for next generation robotic and human-class spacecraft missions. Furthermore, as missions become more variable, the need for intelligent design and control within the thermal control system becomes more valuable. Science payloads will continue to decrease in size, increase in power, and require precise temperature control; all of which cannot be readily provided by traditional thermal control methods. The proposed VEM addresses all these issues. The flexible form factor allows for incorporation onto irregular surfaces without significant increase in mass. The adaptive radiative properties allow for use in extreme environments where surfaces will need to switch from radiative to insulating. As a decal, the surface is quick to integrate and can be readily removed for repair or replacement prior to launch. NASA programs that would be interested in the VEM technology include NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), Passive Thermal, Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP) Program, Lunar Habitat, Gateway Program, and Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) Program. The proposed technology is well suited for small satellites (or cubesats) and smart coatings. The market size for small satellites is modest, but growing. Markets and Markets places the current market size at $7.1B, but increasing to $11.2B by 2029. The proposed radiator technology would be highly desirable in the market due to the resulting reduction in weight and power usage. The team is already working with three satellite manufacturers to provide evaluation samples. Energy independence is vital to the security of United States. Consequently, there is a significant interest in developing smart material technologies that will reduce the national reliance on foreign sources of energy. One efficient way of reducing energy consumption is the development of passive, adaptive coatings that dissipate heat at high temperatures while providing insulation under cooler conditions. VEMs are candidate materials for this type of adaptive behavior since these films can transition from an insulating state at low temperatures to a thermally conductive state at higher temperatures. This allows for a surface that traps heat in the building when it is cold outside, but allows for heat transfer and thermal emission when it is hot outside - thus helping to cool the inside. The proposed thermal management coating is therefore applicable across multiple economic sectors and industries. According to Markets and Markets, the global smart glass market is expected to be worth $9.54 billion by 2029. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 9.8%. The energy-efficient buildings market is projected to grow to $208 billion by 2032, which represents a compound annual growth rate of 5.93%. And while our smart coatings are applicable to all segments of the market, it is the commercial segment that dominates, accounting for 47%.

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.

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.