Hydrogen Peroxide Compatible Tankage Development at the Air Force Research Laboratory

The United States Air Force is developing a responsive Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) capability to accomplish military missions. This concept is referred to as the Military Spaceplane (MSP). The MSP requires both expendable and reusable upper stages to effectively achieve operational mission requirements. Both of these upper stage concepts are considering high-concentration hydrogen peroxide as their oxidizer, due to its responsiveness and operability. This paper will focus on the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) Upper Stage Flight Experiment (USFE) integral structure development effort. The integral structure refers to the stage skirt with an integral composite tank. Design and fabrication risk for the operational system has been mitigated via this program. The USFE tank is the world's first composite integral structure designed to be Class 1 compatible with high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. Lightweight hydrogen peroxide compatible tankage development is of interest to the international aerospace community because it provides considerable benefits. Hydrogen peroxide and hydrocarbon fuel (H₂O₂/RP) can be stored unpressurized and are relatively non-toxic, which makes it safer to handle and store compared to bipropellants such as Nitrogen Tetraoxide and Monomethyl Hydrazine (NTO/MMH). In addition to being a viable bipropellant oxidizer, hydrogen peroxide can also serve as a monopropellant for an Attitude Control System (ACS).