Thermal Insulation for Liquid Hydrogen Space Tankage

Abstract

The thermal insulation for a cryogenic stage is closely related to the intended mission of the space vehicle. For a low-orbit, short-duration flight (less than 1 hr), the thermal insulation is used primarily to restrict the heat flux into propellants induced by kinetic heating while passing through the earth’s atmosphere. When dealing with a final stage, the weight of the non-jettisonable insulation is fully chargeable against the stage payload capability. A drastic optimization must then be carried out, taking into account boil-off losses and cavitation losses at the turbopumps, on the one hand, and insulation weight, on the other hand.

This work was supported by the French Government.