Revolutionary nanocomposite materials to enable space systems in the 21st century

Current estimates for launching payloads into space orbit stand at $10,000/lb ($22,000/kg). Significant weight, and hence cost, reductions can be realized with the use of organic materials, but such materials tend to perform very poorly in the harsh space environment. Organic polymers with uniformly dispersed nanoscale inorganic precursors may enable these materials to withstand the harsh space environment and be used as critical weight-reduction materials on current and future space systems. Nanocomposites, as these types of materials are often referred to, have received much attention over the past decade as scientists search for ways to enhance the properties of engineering polymers while retaining their processing ease. Unlike traditional filled polymer systems, nanocomposites require relatively low dispersant loadings (~2 wt%) to achieve significant property enhancements. Some of these enhancements include increased modulus, increased gas barrier, increased thermal performance, increased atomic oxygen resistance, resistance to small molecule permeation and improved ablative performance. As a result of these enhancements, nanocomposites have the potential to play a significant role in future space systems. Launch vehicles would greatly benefit from appropriately designed nanocomposites that could provide improved barrier properties and gradient morphologies enabling linerless composite cryogenic fuel tanks. Self-rigidizing, self-passivating nanocomposite materials could be used to construct space vehicle components that are both highly resistant to space-borne particles and resistant to degradation from electromagnetic radiation, while reducing the overall weight of the spacecraft. Nanocomposite materials also offer the unique opportunity for improved tailorability of physical and structural properties such as the coefficient of thermal expansion, which would be especially useful in constructing large aperture telescopes and antennas using inflatable membranes