Inflatable continuum structure

Inflatable and flexible continuum structure. The unit elements of the inflatable continuum structure would be stowed into a minimum volume in the cargo bay of the space transporter, launched and deployed at LEO. The various unit elements would be inflated and joined by EVA. Any equipment required would be connected at LEO and the whole would be transported to geostationary orbit. The system is described in Chapter 20, Section 20.7.4. 

Currently, there are two techniques for placing large backing frames in space to support collectors and equipment it is suggested that these are manufactured from polymer composite material systems as (1) a rigid deployable skeletal system, (2) an inflatable and flexible continuum structure. 

The two types of support structures for the solar collectors and equipment that will be considered are the rigid deployable skeletal (RDS) structure and the rigidised inflatable flexible continuum (RIFC) structure both types of structure need to be lightweight and rigid and, in the case of the skeletal structure, high modulus composite materials would be used. In addition, the structures must be able to be folded to a minimum volume to be placed in the cargo bay of the Launch Vehicle, launched and deployed at LEO, and then taken to GEO by space tug,Wingo (2004). 

Rigidised inflatable flexible continuum (RIFC) support structure for solar collectors and... 

Rigidised inflatable flexible continuum support structure for the solar collectors... 

The Rigidised Inflatable Skeletal Stmcture (RISS) for the continuum backing frame can typically be packaged to a volume less than 25% of that necessary for standard mechanical structures, and can be packaged to essentially any shape, depending on particular mission requirements. 

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