Reinforced Space Films

ORCON's family of Orcofilm ORCON reinforced Kapton® and Mylar® space films have been specially developed to meet the space industry's need for strong, but lightweight, films for Multilayer Insulation blankets and other spacecraft applications.

Spacecraft MLI blankets made with unreinforced films are prone to accidental ripping during blanket installation and spacecraft testing. By using reinforced films on the outboard and/or inboard side of the blanket, much of this ripping can be prevented, reducing the cost of blanket repair and schedule delays.

ORCON uses its proprietary Bonded Oriented Continuous Strand (BOCS) technology to apply Nomex reinforcing yarns to one face of the film. The advantage of the BOCS process is its unique method of securing the yarn to the film. Instead of coating the entire film surface with adhesive, the BOCS method applies adhesive only to the yarns in one direction. This minimizes the amount of adhesive, making ORCON reinforced films much lighter in weight than competing reinforced films, while easily meeting strict outgassing requirements. Also, the open pattern of ORCON's reinforcing permits direct access to the film surface for static grounding.

Using ORCON reinforced space films, MLI blanket designers can replace thick, heavy external film layers with thinner reinforced films that are much stronger, yet weigh less, than the thick film. The cost benefits from fewer blanket repairs and lighter weight can be significant, especially on large communications satellites.

ORCON Space Films come in a variety of types to meet different spacecraft applications.

Our standard product configurations are listed below. Please contact us if there are other configurations you are looking for.

Space Films	SPECIFICATIONS
Reinforced Space Films
AN-90D	0.5-mil (12.7 micron) Mylar, aluminized one side, reinforced on aluminized side.
AN-90PD	Same as AN-90D, with perforations.
AN-108	Lamination of 2 layers reinforced 0.5-mil Tedlar, aluminized inside for static dissipation. NASA-KSC Group 1 protective cover film.
KN-90D	1-mil (25.4 micron) Black 100XC Kapton (10E7 ohm/sq.). Reinforced one side. Not metallized.
KN-90GD	Same as KN-90D, with germanium applied to non-reinforced side of film.
KN-92PD	0.5-mil (12.7 micron) Kapton, aluminized one side, with perforations. Reinforced on aluminized side.
KN-94D	1.6-mil (40.6 micron) Black 160XC Kapton (360 ohm/sq.). Reinforced one side. Not metallized.
KN-94PD	Same as KN-94D, with perforations.
KN-99D	1-mil (25.4 micron) Black 100XC Kapton (10E7 ohm/sq.). Aluminized one side. Reinforced on aluminized side.

Notes:
1) All reinforcing is 200 denier Nomex yarn in 4x4 yarns per inch pattern.
2) Standard Perforations provide 1%-2% open area for ventillation.