Proposal and Evaluation of High-Heat Insulation System for Spacecraft by Using WPT

Abstract

As a new space station succeeding the International Space Station (ISS), a lunar orbit manned base, called “Gateway,” is considered and manned lunar surface exploration via the Gateway is also studied. To realize manned lunar surface exploration, new technologies are required to overcome the severe condition of the lunar night. As one of these technologies, applying wireless power transfer (WPT) to a spacecraft, such as a rover, is proposed. The WPT system contributes to the improvement of heat insulation performance and is ideal for reducing the weight of the battery of the spacecraft. In addition, magnetic transmissive multi-layer insulation (MT-MLI) is developed to suppress the generation of eddy currents. In WPT experiments with MT-MLI, the power transmission efficiency between coils is 90% or more. Furthermore, thermal vacuum tests demonstrate that the combination of WPT and MT-MLI reduces thermal leakage.