Company - MMA Space (MMA Design)
Product/Service
- Classification
- In-Space Manufacturing
- Category
- In-Space Manufacturing
In-Space Assembly
- Fields
- Large Space Structures
- Status
- Development
- First launch
- Not announced
Development of In-Space Assembled Tubular Masts (ATMs), regarding an in-space assembled boom technology developed under a 2024 NASA SBIR Phase I effort.
- ATMs are a new deployable space structures technology that enables closed cross-section booms and trusses to be assembled on orbit.
- ATMs present distinct performance advantages over current state-of-the-art deployable booms, while avoiding existing fabrication, furling, and deployment problems associated with permanently bonded closed cross-section high-strain composite solutions such as Collapsible Tubular Masts (CTMs).
- The proposed Assembled Tubular Masts (ATMs) provide closed-cross section performance while eliminating problems associated with permanently bonding shell halves to form closed cross-section booms.
- At the time of this proposal, MMA predicts it can achieve at least twice (2x) the tension on the deployed optic membrane MMArsquo;s Lidar system all within the same stowed volume if booms are changed from an open section slit tube to a closed, ATM cross-section.
- Beyond Lidar instruments, the fundamental ATM technology developed in this Phase I effort is also directly applicable to any deployable space structure that seeks to maximize deployed system stiffness, while minimizing stowed volume and mass.
- The ATM technology may be applied to future NASA missions requiring deployed solar arrays, deployable antenna systems, or other space deployable structures both in Earth orbit, interplanetary, or for lunar or Mars surface operations.nbsp;
- This paper presents the ATM concept and its development through recent work funded by a Phase I NASA SBIR. The approach includes curing together composite laminates with low-CTE metal foils, which are swaged together through a joining mechanism in the deployment sequence to assemble the boom cross-section of interest.
- The paper discusses this ATM boom joining process along with results from development and prototyping at a sub-scale as a proof-of-concept. Preliminary pull-test evaluations of the joining method are presented and show excellent strength. A prototype ATM deployer mechanism was completed in this study to demonstrate assembly of a closed cross-section thin-walled tube. Also presented are predictions for ATM boom stiffness and strength compared to existing high-strain composite boom solutions such as slit-tubes and CTMs.
- MMA Space predicts it can achieve at least twice (2x) the tip-load bearing capacity all within the same stowed volume by utilizing ATMs in place of an open-cross section boom. This is due largely to the fact that ATMs can be constructed from much thicker walls when they are assembled. Furthermore, the approach precludes the need for additional root support bracing, making it extremely volume efficient. The ATM technology may be applied to future missions requiring instrument booms, deployed solar arrays, deployable antenna systems, or other space deployable structures both in Earth orbit, interplanetary, or for lunar or Mars surface operations.