Deployable Composite Structures

NASA is seeking innovative structure technologies that will advance expandable modules for orbital and surface based habitats. These secondary structures must increase utilization of the primary pressurized volumes by accommodating hardware, experiments, storage space, and cable routing. The expandable structures must use minimal launch mass and volume, be easy to install, and maximize operational volume and structural performance in a crewed or material transfer pressure vessel. Utilizing unique materials and innovative mechanical designs, CTD has created a new class of deployable structures for increasing the utility of inflatable habitats. These new concepts are referred to as Composite Rollable Extendible Slit-Tube Structures, or CRESTS. CRESTS can provide room divisions or load bearing floors and provide mounting for racks, storage and cabling. CRESTS are stowed by rolling slit-tube beams, lateral support battens, and floor or wall surfaces into a single compact tube. CRESTS have been designed for linearly expanding lunar modules and for toroidal inflatable orbital habitats. CRESTS are elastically strained deployable composites that provide a positive deployment force and an inherent geometric lock-out to occur once the deployment is complete. This technology can address the challenges within this application of being lightweight, yet rigid.

The intent of this technology development is to provide NASA with a means for enhancing the utility of inflatable habitats for future space exploration. The first direction that extended space exploration will take us is still undefined, but it is becoming more evident that expandable structures can greatly increase the crew living environment where ever we go. CTD will be ready and is advancing the technology TRL of secondary structures appropriate for expandable habitats for both surface and zero-g exploration. With the goals set by NASA to support the manned exploration of other planets, the development of innovative structure technologies that will advance expandable exploration space modules and surface based habitats is a necessity. The proposed deployable technology will make significant progress toward this end by providing a low-cost, mass-minimized deployable structure that can be used to maximize operational volume and structural performance of a crewed or material transfer pressure vessel.

The most immediate Non-NASA application for this technology is to work with companies developing low earth orbit commercial habitats and help advance their product lines. Full-scale demonstrations of working hardware that will greatly increase the utility of their type of habitat will be essential to attract commercial investment. This technology is protected by patent and by unique materials and engineering for extremely thin composites, making collaboration efforts the best possibility for product advancement. However, licensing of technology can also be considered to allow commercial entities to have a higher degree of design control. In addition, all forward progress with stiffer laminates, more complex geometries, integration techniques and deployment methodologies are applicable across all of CTD's rolled structure programs. CTD has taken rolled space solar arrays and modified them for quick-setup terrestrial arrays and man-portable bridges.

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.

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.