{"id":8012,"date":"2023-11-14T22:53:49","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T14:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/sierra-space-announces-pioneering-full-scale-burst-test-of-expandable-space-station-module\/"},"modified":"2023-11-14T22:53:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T14:53:49","slug":"sierra-space-announces-pioneering-full-scale-burst-test-of-expandable-space-station-module","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/sierra-space-announces-pioneering-full-scale-burst-test-of-expandable-space-station-module\/","title":{"rendered":"Sierra Space Announces Pioneering Full-Scale Burst Test of Expandable Space Station Module"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sierra_C_638355339597780122.jpg\" width=\"712\" height=\"377\" alt=\"Sierra Space Announces Pioneering Full-Scale Burst Test of Expandable Space Station Module\" class=\"imageload removeImageattr\" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sierra_C_638355339597780122.jpg\" style=\"\"><meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sierra_C_638355339597780122.jpg\"><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"712\"><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"377\"><\/p>\n<p>Sierra Space, a leading pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, announced that it is on the brink of a historic moment as the company prepares for its biggest-ever \u201cburst test\u201d of Sierra Space\u2019s inflatable, expandable space station technology.<\/p>\n<p>This groundbreaking endeavor marks a critical step in Sierra Space\u2019s co-development of Orbital Reef with Blue Origin, as the company plans to stress test \u2013 for the first time in history \u2013 a full-scale version of its LIFE habitat structure and bring the unit to failure under pressure. LIFE is constructed of high-strength \u201csoftgoods\u201d materials, which are sewn and woven fabrics \u2013 primarily Vectran \u2013 that become rigid structures when pressurized on orbit. To date, Sierra Space has conducted five stress tests on subscale test articles; this next one will be 18x larger \u2013 nearly 300 m\u00b3 of pressurized volume.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sierra_2_638355347316108515.png\" style=\"width: 363px; height: 399.708px;\" class=\"imageload removeImageattr fr-fir fr-dii\" width=\"363\" height=\"399.708\" data-original=\"https:\/\/cdn.satnow.com\/news\/sierra_2_638355347316108515.png\"><\/p>\n<p>Scheduled for December 2023 at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., the Ultimate Burst Pressure (UBP) test is expected to provide Sierra Space and the Orbital Reef program team with critical data in support of NASA\u2019s softgoods certification guidelines. The over-pressurization to failure during the test will not only demonstrate the habitat\u2019s capabilities but also open avenues for structural enhancements.<\/p>\n<p>Sierra Space\u2019s expandable space station module technology is highly scalable and flexible to all existing and planned launch vehicle fairing sizes. The softgoods structures launch packed inside conventional rocket fairings \u2013 5m, 7m, 9m, and beyond \u2013 inflating to capacity on orbit. Low-volume launches become high-volume space stations. The module volume will always be the square of its expansion diameter. For example, with a 2.5x expandable configuration, the volume would be 6.25x of a rocket fairing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSierra Space\u2019s inflatable space station module technology offers the absolute largest in-space pressured volume, the best unit economics per on-orbit volume, and lowest launch and total operating costs,\u201d said <strong>Sierra Space CEO Tom Vice<\/strong>. \u201cHaving the best unit economics positions Sierra Space as the category leader in microgravity research and product development \u2013 providing customers with the most attractive return on their investment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Dimensions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Full-scale LIFE habitat with a height of 20.5 feet (Total height with ground support equipment: 29.5 feet)<\/li>\n<li>Diameter: 27 feet<\/li>\n<li>Volume: 10,000 cubic feet (283.17 m3)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Current Progress:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>All components and ground support equipment are in the integration phase at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Upcoming Steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Softgoods integration into the test stand will be followed by transportation, utilizing the legendary NASA KAMAG transporter tractor, to the historic testing location adjacent to the flame trench of the Saturn 1\/1B test stand \u2014 where NASA tested rockets for the Apollo program<\/li>\n<li>Setup and calibration of sensors and cameras, alongside operational run-throughs, will prepare for the full-scale UBP test in December 2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Objectives and Lessons Learned:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The recent successes of subscale burst tests have emboldened Sierra Space to undertake the full-scale burst test with confidence<\/li>\n<li>Sierra Space aims to further refine its technical approach to safety factors and structural integrity through this test<\/li>\n<li>Insights from previous tests contribute to technical maturation in support of higher-fidelity manufacturing processes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Core Materials and Blanking Plates:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The restraint layer for LIFE is constructed of high-strength \u201csoftgoods\u201d materials, which are sewn and woven fabrics \u2013 primarily Vectran \u2013 that become rigid structures when pressurized<\/li>\n<li>Under normal operating pressure, the Vectran softgoods materials become 5x stronger than steel, exceeding station lifetime performance safety factors<\/li>\n<li>The restraint layer is complemented by a bladder allowing controlled inflation and pressurization to ultimate burst pressure test failure<\/li>\n<li>Two metallic blanking plates are strategically inserted into the restraint layer, designed for seamless integration into the structural shell with minimal performance degradation or knockdown; blanking plates are metal placeholders for integrating windows, airlocks, robotic arms, and other features, into the softgoods layer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable\" contenteditable=\"false\" draggable=\"true\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2AuaMpxcTAw?&amp;wmode=opaque\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"fr-draggable\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sierra Space, a leading pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, announced that it is on the brink of a historic moment as the company prepares for its biggest-ever \u201cburst test\u201d of Sierra Space\u2019s inflatable, expandable space station technology. This groundbreaking endeavor marks a critical step in Sierra [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-8012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-ground"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}