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23/09/2011
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Boeing has been selected by NASA to design, manufacture and test two lightweight composite cryogenic propellant tanks.
 Under a $24million contract, Boeing will make use of advanced composite materials to develop the cryotanks and test them with liquid hydrogen to see if they can improve the capability and cost of future launch vehicles.
The demonstration effort, which is due to start this month, is part of NASA's Space Technology Program. Testing of the tanks is expected to begin in late 2013 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
"The goal of this particular technology demonstration effort is to achieve 30% weight savings and 25% cost savings compared to traditional metallic tanks," said Michael Gazarik of NASA, who is leading the program. "Weight savings alone would allow us to increase our upmass capability, which is important when considering payload size and cost. This state of the art technology has applications for multiple stakeholders in the rocket propulsion community."
According to Gazarik, the tanks will incorporate design features and new manufacturing processes applicable to designs up to 10m in diameter. He believes the tanks could be used on future heavy lift vehicles, in-space propellant depots and other Earth departure exploration architectures.
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Author
Laura Hopperton
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