An Overview of the Performance and Maturity of Long Life Cryocoolers for Space Applications

Development of high performance moving-coil linear compressors for space Stirling-type pulse tube cryocoolers

“…Therefore, the worldwide space industry has been actively seeking means for multiyear cryogenic cooling in space to enable long-life infrared sensors since the 1950s [4,5]. In the process, two types of regenerative cryocoolers, the Stirling cryocooler and the pulse tube cryocooler (PTC) have been studied in great depth in the past three decades and had a wide range of important practical applications to date [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Especially, the PTC, which eliminates any moving mechanical component at the cold end, has further achieved two evident advantages over the Stirling cryocooler: first, any wear-out at the cold end is eliminated, and second, at the cold end both vibration input and electromagnetic interference (EMI) levels are significantly reduced [23][24][25][26][27].…”

“…These noticeable features endow the Oxford-type linear compressors with the remarkable merits of high reliability and long life that have a strong appeal to the space field. During the past three decades, the effectiveness of the Oxford-type linear compressor and its various variants has been verified by a variety of space practices and thus achieved acceptance worldwide for driving space Stirling cryocoolers and SPTCs [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

“…After a 50-year development since the original invention and several generations' great efforts, the PTC has already evolved from a laboratory curiosity into an enabling cryogenic technology which is efficient and reliable enough to be used on a wide variety of space missions. The past thirty years have witnessed a worldwide quest for space-qualified PTCs, and a series of successful applications since the first launch in the late 1990s have provided abundant convincing evidences of the PTC as a new-generation enabling space regenerative cryocooler [4][5][6][7][8]14,20].…”

“…Especially, for the moving-coil design, it avoids open circuit axial forces and torques on the current carrying coil and it is much easier to completely eliminate the radial forces due to the structural features. Due to the proven high efficiency, low EMI noise, enhanced manufacturability and reliability, the moving-coil linear compressor has served for most of practical space missions during the past two decades, especially for driving SPTCs [4][5][6][7][8]14,20]. For example, by the end of 2013, there were sixteen space SPTCs made by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) operating in orbit without performance degradation, and two of them had already continuously operating for more than 15 years [20].…”

Failure analysis of the space Stirling cryocoolers

“…Because of requirement of cryogenic ambient temperature in these techniques, cryocoolers have gained a good chance to prosper. Stirling cryocooler is widely used for space application because of its long-life; low temperature and compact structure [1][2][3][4]. It has been over 50 years since the first Stirling cooler came into being in 1954, and the techniques have developed from the integral type, rotary motor and contact seal to split type, linear motor and clearance seal.…”