Technologies > Thin Films > Stowability

A strong attractive feature of form stiffened shells is their ability to be compactly roll stowed. The resulting tubular or column like storage factor should lend itself to efficient integration into payload volumes and is also an inherently strong structural element enabling the aperture to better survive launch loads while minimizing the amount of surface area exposed to acoustic loadings. Perhaps most important, at least for membrane optical applications, is the fact that no folding operations are needed to stow such an aperture. This eliminates the potential for creases that could permanently scar the surface finish and/or require larger deployment forces to straighten the surface and pull out the creases. The exact limit on roll stowage inner diameter (and hence overall stowage diameter) depends on material and coating limits.

The roll stow approach could be used to package and launch circular apertures or surfaces of upwards of 18 to 20 meter diameter (assuming the Shuttle or Delta 4 Heavy Dual Manifest, for example) could be stowed within existing launch vehicle fairings. If elliptical or oval outer perimeter shapes were tolerable, achievable deployed size could likely be doubled along one axis (i.e. apertures that are 20 x 40 in rough shape). Alternative stowage methods that further increase achievable surface area and/or diameter have also been developed and validated with proof of concept experimental results.