A spacecraft is equipped with a low and high thrust space propulsion system including at least one water reservoir (1) containing liquid water, a high thrust propulsion part and a low thrust propulsion part. The high thrust propulsion part has a high thruster including a regulation valve (V1) for drawing water from the liquid water reservoir (1), a device for splitting (2) liquid water into gaseous hydrogen and gaseous oxygen, relative storage tanks (3, 4), a combustion chamber (5) in which the gaseous hydrogen reacts with the gaseous oxygen and an exhaust nozzle (6) from the combustion chamber (5). The low thrust propulsion part comprises a liquid water supply line (10) and a plurality of liquid water outlets in a plurality of branches (11-1n) individually including a regulating valve (21-2n), a vaporization chamber (31-3n) and an expansion nozzle (41-4n).

A spacecraft propulsion system comprises an attitude adjustment thruster system with multiple thrusters (488a-d) receiving heated propellant via a shared thermal capacitance block (275). The thermal capacitance block (275) receives energy from a solar concentrator (320) and stores the heat.

A liquid behavior suppression device in which the inside of a liquid container is partitioned in a direction orthogonal to the central axis, liquid is held on the bottom side of the liquid container, and a plurality of holes extending in the axial direction are formed.

Provided is a liquid tank, including: a cylindrical seamless tank body having both end portions being reduced in diameter toward respective end sides; and a plurality of annular baffles provided inside the tank body and arranged at intervals in an axial direction of the tank body, in which at least one of the plurality of baffles is held on an inner peripheral surface of the tank body.

Bi-modal propulsion systems and related methods are generally described. In some embodiments, a bi-modal propulsion system may employ a single propellant for both chemical thruster(s), operating at elevated pressures, and electrical thruster(s) (e.g., electro spray thruster), operating at reduced pressures. The propellant pressure may be reduced to a desired operational range of the electrical thruster(s) using any appropriate construction including, for example, capillaries configured to reduce the pressure of the propellant to an operational range of the electrical thruster(s). In some embodiments, the reduced pressure of the propellant may be lower than a vapor pressure of at least one volatile component of the propellant, leading to the formation of bubbles within the propellant line. The presence of alternating gas and liquid phases along a flow path between a propellant tank and the electrical thruster(s) may help to electrically insulate the electrical thruster from the rest of the system.

A combined launch vehicle and satellite system relates to the satellite combined with the launch vehicle's upper stage to provide a more efficient system that includes tank separation technology which allows the satellite system to shed tanks that have used up all the propellants stored therein. The method separation of the tank set is enabled by using a merman band or pneumatic type of separation system; wherein the three bottom tanks are emptied first during the process, followed by the separation of the emptied tanks herein the fuel is completely filled in the second set of tanks. The first pair of tanks is then separated after the fuel is emptied. Similarly, the plumbing lines are also separated. The separation of the used components is achieved herein and the satellite is ready for orbit insertion.

Rocket tank liquid level determination, and associated systems and methods. A representative system includes a computer-readable medium having instructions that, when executed, receive an image corresponding to a view of the liquid in the rocket tank, identify an edge between the liquid and a wall of the tank, and, based on at least one of a size, shape, location, or orientation of the edge, estimate a level of the liquid in the tank. In addition to or in lieu of determining the liquid level, the system can determine a characteristic of a sloshing motion of the liquid in the tank, and, based at least on the characteristic of the sloshing motion, direct operation of a forcing element that imparts a force to the rocket to at least partially counteract a force placed on the rocket by the sloshing motion of the liquid in the tank.

An enclosed volume is provided for performing operations in space, or on any astronomical object, in a manner separated from aspects of the external environment. The enclosed volume can be a flexible container for a satellite. The enclosed volume can include a membrane having a fluid barrier layer and being configured to contain a propellant gas or fluid; and an expulsion device configured to expel material from the membrane. In a stowed configuration, the flexible container is contained within the satellite, and in a deployed configuration, the flexible container extends away from the satellite. The flexible container can inflate from one shape, in the undeployed configuration, to another shape, in a deployed configuration. The other shape can be toroidal or other appropriate shapes. The flexible container can provide bipropellant, blowdown, and gas/fluid metering functionality. Entertainment and game play can be enabled by the enclosed volume involving robots and other devices.

Rocket components having internal heat fins are described herein. The disclosed components have internal heat fins that mitigate buckling and uneven force application by adding thermal capacity to the component without adding component stiffness. This reduces a thermal force fight (i.e., tension versus compression between cold and hot areas, respectively), which inhibits the buckling loads on the propellant tank. The internal heats fins also provide for a reduced mass of the propellant tank wall relative to a propellant tank wall without internal heat fins. By reducing the thermal force fight, as discussed above, less material can be used which further allows for thinner welds to be used (i.e., less welding material).

A thermal insulation structure (100) including: a thermal insulation film (200); and a plurality of support members (300) that supports the thermal insulation film (200), in which the thermal insulation film (200) is supported by the support member in a state where tension is applied in an in-plane direction of the thermal insulation film (200), the support member (300) includes a first portion (310) and a second portion (320) that are separated from each other, and one or more third portion (330) that connects the first portion (310) and the second portion (320), and a length of the third portion (330) in an extending direction of the third portion (330) is longer than a distance between the first portion (310) and the second portion (320), the first portion (310) and the second portion (320) are disposed along a direction intersecting a surface of the thermal insulation film (200), and the support member (300) is elastically deformable in the direction intersecting a surface of the thermal insulation film (200), and a structure including this thermal insulation structure (100) are provided.