WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has opened a lab focused on developing materials for new deployable space structures.

Construction on the Deployable Structures Laboratory, or DeSel, began in December 2019 and opened Oct. 29, 2020. Scientists and engineers moving into the $4 million lab at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, will continue the work of the Spacecraft Component Technology Center of Excellence, which has a history of developing spacecraft structure materials.

DeSel contains specialized equipment and a climate-controlled, vibration-isolated laboratory capable of testing spacecraft structures up to 20-by-15 meters, allowing AFRL to further research and develop high-strain composite materials.

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“I’m excited to have a facility that was specifically built for testing novel deployable space structures,” Benjamin Urioste, research engineer and lead for the Integrated Structural Systems team, said in a statement. “With the push toward hybrid architecture and smaller satellites, high packing efficiency structures and the ability to bring large satellite capability to small satellites is more important than ever.”

“This new class of high strain composite enabled structures requires new ground test facilities,” he added. “Satellite deployments are nerve-wracking, one-shot endeavors and the high-fidelity ground testing that will take place in the DeSel is critical to ensuring on-orbit success.”

Spacecraft Technologies Division chief Mark Roverse said the structures, made possible by high strain composites, "will enable new mission paradigms for the U.S. Space Force.”

“AFRL has led development of high strain composites for deployed spacecraft structures, and we are excited to see the new mission capabilities that are being enabled,” Roverse added.

One spacecraft in development that will benefit from these new structures is AFRL’s Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration and Research project. With the SSPIDR project, the lab wants to build a spacecraft capable of collecting solar energy on orbit and then transmitting that energy to forward-operating bases via radio frequency.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $100 million contract to support space-based experiments informing SSPIDR’s development.

The Space Force is testing that technology on the X-37B, the service’s secretive spacecraft, but DeSel’s work will provide the materials needed to build the SSPIDR craft.

“This innovative research will help us to deliver the essential energy our warfighters need at the right place at the right time,” explained Col. Eric Felt, director of the AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate. “Some of the first structures that we look forward to testing in this new lab are those required for our Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration and Research (SSPIDR) project, one of our top priority programs.”

About Nathan Strout

Nathan Strout covers space, unmanned and intelligence systems for C4ISRNET.

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