To provide a propellant tank such as a fuel tank and an oxidant tank for a spacecraft, the propellant tank discharging propellant such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen accumulated therein toward a rocket engine by pressurizing an inside thereof by operating gas. The propellant tank includes a tank body that accumulates therein the propellant in a liquid state, and a holding container that is provided inside the tank body and disposed with a predetermined gap from an inner wall of the tank body, so that the propellant in a liquid state can be held therein, when the inside of the tank body is in a microgravity state or a zero-gravity state.

A gas injection device for injecting an expulsion gas into a tank for a liquid. The gas injection device comprises an inlet pipe for receiving the gas and a distributor portion for releasing the gas through a plurality of capillary passages. The inlet pipe has a first end configured to be connected to a gas supply line and a second end located within a chamber in the distributor portion. The capillary passages respectively extend in a direction adapted to a periphery of the chamber. A tank for a liquid is provided, the tank comprising a gas injection device. A spacecraft is provided comprising such a tank.

Systems and methods for thermal transport in space for cryogenic propellant storage tank chilldown are described. In order to maximize the storage tank chilldown thermal efficiency for the least amount of required cryogen consumption, the embodiments relate to quenching heat transfer concepts that can include the combination of cryogenic spray quenching cooling, thermal insulator thin-film coating on the tank inner surface, and spray flow pulsing. The boiling heat transfer physics that supports the concepts are described. The completed flight experiments successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concepts and discovered that spray cooling can be an efficient cooling method for the tank chilldown in microgravity. In microgravity, the data shows that the chilldown thermal efficiency can reach 30% with a thermal insulator coating alone. Further thermal efficiencies can be made up to 50% with flow pulsing.

A method for producing a light-weight pressure tank with a light-weight pressure container from a metal material, the light weight pressure container including at least one polar or equatorial attachment element and a container wall connected to the at least one polar or equatorial attachment element, wherein at least the container wall is formed integrally in one piece with the at least one polar or equatorial attachment element by additive manufacturing by a thermal spraying method by applying the metal material to a convex or concave mold surface of a cambered formwork mold by a spray jet through at least one spray nozzle.

A load-decoupling attachment system is configured to secure to a primary structure. The load-decoupling attachment system includes one or more baffle tiers. One or more beams are coupled to the one or more baffle tiers. The one or more beams include a fore end and an aft end. A fore end coupling joint is configured to secure the fore end to a first portion of the primary structure. The fore end coupling joint includes a spherical bearing that allows the fore end to rotate in relation to the first portion of the primary structure. An aft end coupling joint is configured to secure the aft end to a second portion of the primary structure. The aft end coupling joint includes a slot that allows the aft end to linearly translate in relation to the second portion of the primary structure.

A liquid storage device for a propellant tank in a spacecraft includes a gas-guide tube, a cover plate, a housing, blades, a supporting column, a base, a passage-window pressing plate, a passage-window mesh piece, a liquid-storage-device mesh piece, a fixing block, and a pressing plate for the liquid-storage-device mesh piece. The blades are uniformly distributed on and fixed to the support column in a radial direction to form an integral structure, and the integral structure is mounted on and fixed to a circular partition plate in the base. The liquid-storage-device mesh piece is pressed on the circular partition plate in the base by the pressing plate for the liquid-storage-device mesh piece and then is fixed. The passage-window mesh piece is pressed on the outer side of a cylinder wall of the base by the passage-window pressing plate and then is fixed.

Systems, a device, and methods of operating the device are disclosed. The device acquires cryogenic liquid in a tank in low-gravity and provides the liquid to an end user, such as a rocket engine. The device helps reduce vortex flows that tend to occur in tanks. The device, the liquid therein, and liquid in the tank may be cooled by a fluid flow from a thermodynamic vent or cryocooler. Such cooling may resultantly reduce pressure in the tank. Thus, the device may provide tank pressure control in space vehicles with cryogenic propellant. The device may have an annular shape that allows flow to a main tank output port to be substantially uninterrupted so as to have a relatively low pressure drop.

A metallic positive expulsion fuel tank with stress free weld seams may include a first hemispherical shell with a first edge; a pressurized gas inlet attached to the first hemispherical shell; and a metallic cylinder with first and second edges attached to the first hemispherical shell along matching first edges by a first weld seam. The tank may also include a second hemispherical shell with a first edge attached to a fuel outlet fixture. An elastomeric diaphragm may be attached to the fuel outlet fixture on the second hemispherical shell. The second hemispherical shell may be attached to the second edge of the metallic cylinder along matching edges by a second weld seam thereby forming a positive expulsion fuel tank with two interior chambers separated by the elastomeric diaphragm. The first and second weld seams may be subjected to a localized post-weld stress relief heat treatment in which heating of the tank is confined to a distance of 2 inches (5.08 cm) of the first weld seam and a distance of 2 inches (5.08 cm) of the second weld seam such that the stresses in the first and second weld seams are relieved and the elastomeric diaphragm is unaffected by the heat treatment.

A modified tank for use in microgravity environments is provided. The modified tank includes a membrane defining an interior and including an inlet leading to the interior and first and second outlets from the interior. The modified tank further includes first and second filters for the first and second outlets, respectively, and an outlet wiping pair. The outlet wiping pair includes a wiper in the interior and a wiping boss at an exterior of the membrane. The wiping boss is operably coupled to the wiper whereby operation of the wiping boss causes the wiper to wipe at least one of the first and second filters.

There is disclosed a method for collecting and directing liquid contents from a tank in a low-gravity environment to an outlet of the tank. The tank may have an inner wall lining the interior and hemispherical ends opposite each other which may define a longitudinal axis. The method may include forming parallel capillary gutters on control surfaces in the tank, with a proximal end of each gutter directed toward the outlet and a distal end extending into an interior of the tank. The control surfaces may include one or more of the inner wall, an axial vane, and a lateral plate through the longitudinal axis. The method may include terminating the proximal ends within a capillary distance of the outlet, and may include narrowing a width of the gutters in a direction of flow for establishing a capillary drive of condensed liquids toward the outlet.