Description: Canopy Aerospace proposes to collaborate with NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) to qualify a new inexpensive thermal protection system (TPS) material that could reduce the strain on the industrial base for the rapidly growing low earth orbit (LEO) economy. Canopy is developing new reusable TPS processes (eg. robotic spraying) and formulations that greatly reduce the amount of waste and touch labor required to finish these critical components. Legacy materials such as those developed for the shuttle program remain heavily used due to their flight heritage but impose high costs and lack a strong industrial base of suppliers for the raw feedstocks. The ACO effort detailed in this mini proposal covers the qualification testing required to raise the technology readiness level (TRL) of Canopy’s new thermal protection system formulation from a 3 to a 5 or greater over the course of two years. The central objectives will be to (1) demonstrate the ability to fabricate relevant test article geometries, (2) measure key material properties for TPS use cases, (3) provide a direct quantitative comparison between the new and legacy material performance. Canopy will be responsible for manufacturing the necessary test articles for the NASA ARC team to then interrogate at their specialized facilities. The characterization program will begin with simple methods, including mechanical testing and thermal conductivity measurements. During the second half of the program, refined articles will be subjected to simulated entry environment conditions, using arc jet testing facilities at NASA Ames Research Center. Successfull arc jet testing is expected to result in Canopy being able to provide these materials to the aerspace industry base.

Benefits: In the long-term, Canopy’s material innovations can help sustain the growing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) economy as all reentry systems will require large amounts of thermal protection systems (TPS), with each shuttle-sized vehicles requiring more than fifty million dollars in thermal protection systems materials alone. The success of the Low Earth Orbit economy is predicated on the presence of a robust supply chain for critical path components such as thermal protection systems. Furthermore, future NASA missions will similarly benefit from an improved supply chain, and the proposed reduction in lead times associated with Canopy’s materials will simplify logistics. Long term, the additive manufacturing paradigms enabled by Canopy will lead to safer NASA missions through lowered manufacturing variance and increased performance reliability. These new additvely manufactured systems may also increase payload capacity due to refined safety margins with reduced excess material in the thermal protection systems. Parter organizations will benefit from the increased efficiency and reliability of Canopy's products.