![\"pressure-testing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PRESSURE-2_Lockheed_Martin.jpg\")
\nThe test unit, prior to inflation, awaited the burst test on a former Titan rocket stand at Lockheed Martin\u2019s Waterton Canyon facility. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/p>\n
The race to the Moon is on, and Lockheed Martin is confident that its inflatable habitat technology can help fast-track sustainable human operations, from Earth orbit to the lunar surface and beyond.<\/p>\n
Although the concept of inflatable structures in space is not new\u2014as demonstrated by the human-rated Bigelow Expandable Activity Module that has been operating on the International Space Station since 2016\u2014Lockheed Martin is developing an advanced in-house design that it says will provide higher performance, greater safety margins and faster build times than its competitors.<\/p>\n
To validate this, the company is conducting an intense test campaign of its softgoods technology, the culmination of which is expected to be an in-space demonstration in orbit\u2014or on the lunar surface\u2014around the end of the decade. The most dramatic of these tests involves deliberately overinflating the units until they burst under pressure, and Aviation Week was invited to witness the latest in the series.<\/p>\n
Results show inflatable lifetimes can exceed 100 yearsHigh-velocity impact tests are coming up next<\/p>\n
This test, the fifth burst evaluation conducted in the campaign, took place on a former Titan rocket test stand built deep into a ravine behind Lockheed Martin Space\u2019s Waterton Canyon facility in Colorado. Securely anchored to a reinforced concrete platform and protected from sunlight by a large awning to maintain a balanced temperature, the test unit was a barrel-shape structure with a fully inflated diameter of about 10.8 ft.<\/p>\n
With the test team safely ensconced behind yards of concrete in the control bunker and this Aviation Week editor watching with other observers from a viewpoint 1,250 ft. away, the atmosphere grew tense as the inflation sequence began. Once the pressure exceeded 125 psi, observers donned double-ear protectors as the test unit\u2019s material strained.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, the still afternoon air was shattered as the unit burst with a thunderclap at a pressure of 224 psi. The test structure and overhead awning shredded instantly into pieces while a shock wave raced through the ravine, its force palpable to the observers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe initial results look like it matched what we thought, [and] we got to a higher pressure than we were predicting,\u201d Tyler Muma, Lockheed Martin Space\u2019s lead engineer for inflatable habitation systems, said afterward while picking up pieces of debris scattered like confetti around the test stand.<\/p>\n
\nThe test unit, prior to inflation, awaited the burst test on a former Titan rocket stand at Lockheed Martin\u2019s Waterton Canyon facility. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means that this unit, as a design, meets all the requirements, but it also means that we can make larger units for larger habitats as well as reservoirs for liquids and fuel and cryogens,\u201d he added. \u201cSo it is a very good result.\u201d The burst pressure was 14.7 times the required factor of safety above Lockheed\u2019s 15.2 psi maximum design pressure for this unit.<\/p>\n
The test was also significant because it was the first full-scale evaluation of a new \u201ccoreless\u201d design configured for smaller volumes, such as in airlocks and access ports. \u201cOur previous test units have all had a central core in them and are designed for larger habitats in which you can attach a lot of secondary structure to that central core,\u201d Muma said. \u201cThis unit does not have that central core, which means the entire volume is available for astronauts to move around in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The test focused in particular on determining the strength of the design\u2019s revised geometry and load-carrying configuration. Unlike the larger designs in which the outer structural layer carries hoop loads and the core takes the axial loads, all loads in the airlock unit are handled by the structural layer, and axial loads are transferred to it with an array of carefully fitted straps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis test proves that we have the capability to do that at this size and at larger sizes,\u201d Muma said. Sized for two astronauts in full flight suits, the airlock has a volume of about 9 m3 (320 ft.3). Configured with metal bulkheads at the top and bottom, the test unit also included a side-mounted metallic plate, or blanking plate, that in a flightworthy version could accommodate a window or support such features as a robotic arm. \u201cWe\u2019re specifically verifying that we can attach things to our structural layer, and we maintain the strength that we need to meet all the requirements,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The strength margin demonstrated in the test \u201calso signifies that we can estimate a much larger 250-m3 coreless habitat would have a factor of safety five times\u2014which exceeds NASA\u2019s requirements,\u201d notes Uy Duong, Lockheed Martin Space exploration chief engineer.<\/p>\n
![\"test](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/PRESSURE-3_Guy_Norris-AWST.jpg\")
\nThe scattered remains of the demonstration unit, together with the pieces of protective awning, covered the site after the burst test. Credit: Guy Norris\/AW&ST<\/p>\n
The basic material used for the structure is a fiber called Vectran, spun from a liquid-crystal polymer made by Japanese company Kuraray. The fibers are first spun into a yarn that is then woven into a specialized fabric with custom webbing patterns designed to withstand specific loads. \u201cFrom there, we take it as a strap, and that\u2019s when our manufacturing takes over,\u201d Duong says. \u201cWe start stitching it together into the configuration that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
For launch, the inflatable units can be packed down axially at a ratio of up to 5:1. For launch on smaller rockets, the units can be packed radially at a 2:1 ratio. \u201cThat\u2019s key for missions to places like Mars, where we can fit [it] behind aeroshells to get to the surface and provide more usable volume,\u201d Muma said.<\/p>\n
Lockheed is also preparing to begin a second round of creep tests on its inflatable design at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center following an initial successful test at the end of 2024. In creep, or life-deformation testing, the article is inflated to a constant pressure and then tested to measure how long it can hold the pressure. \u201cWe\u2019ll do a total of three creep tests to get three different data points on a life curve, and that\u2019s what verifies our 15-year design life,\u201d Muma said. To meet NASA\u2019s four-times safety factor, this equates to a 60-year life. \u201cOur first test indicated we\u2019re going to have hundreds of years of life in this unit because we have so much strength capability,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Human-rating certification also includes high-velocity impact testing for micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD) to verify the damage resistance of the unit\u2019s outer protective layers. Duong says that this testing will soon begin at an unspecified facility, likely in the U.S. Southwest. \u201c[Low Earth orbit] is probably the worst environment in terms of the debris threat,\u201d he adds, noting that up to eight layers may be wrapped over the unit for MMOD protection.<\/p>\n
Design work is meanwhile underway to verify the best method of packing a coreless inflatable structure configured with bulkheads and multiple protective layers into the smallest practical volume. Testing initially uses subscale articles, says Mitch Reid, Lockheed Martin MMOD lead design engineer. \u201cI\u2019m in the process of inflating it so I can add some of the MMOD layers we\u2019re developing,\u201d he explains. \u201cThen we will work toward coming up with a packing scheme in a way that these bulkheads will come back down to allow the unit to fit into a small space.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the smaller-scale article, we\u2019ve got a couple different concepts that we\u2019re working toward, and the small unit is really great for doing that because building all of these layers is really labor-intensive,\u201d Reid adds.<\/p>\n
Packing tests are also fundamental to proving the flexibility of inflatable structures for different roles, Duong adds. \u201cWe want a baseline concept that works regardless of mission architecture,\u201d he notes. \u201cThere are some different complexities depending on the varying geometry. For the coreless article, for example, you have more material to pack axially and shrink down along the height of the unit. But the cored habitats have a larger diameter, so there\u2019s more material that we have to pack in the radial direction. A scalable approach helps us adjust for some of those geometry changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
For testing a unit in space, Lockheed Martin is considering a demonstration mission that ultimately transitions into a usable habitat for NASA or another user. \u201cWe want to use a demo unit that we can then evolve into a habitat, if possible, or a storage unit,\u201d Duong says. \u201cRight now, there are a lot of short timelines that are coming up, and we\u2019ll see if we can meet those or not. But overall, I think we\u2019re going to try to shoot for a demonstration in about 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inflatable concept\u2019s reduced landing mass \u201cmakes a lot of sense\u201d for faster lunar access than \u201clanding massive metallic payloads, and the landers needed to do that,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The race to the Moon is on, and Lockheed Martin is confident that its inflatable habitat technology can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-261159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}