Low-Volatility, Reduced-Toxicity Hypergolic Propellants

Objective: Develop and demonstrate low-volatility, reduced-toxicity hypergolic fuels suitable for Divert and Attitude Control System (DACS) thrusters while maintaining critical performance metrics when paired with standard oxidizers. Description: This topic seeks novel hypergolic fuels featuring significantly reduced volatility and toxicity compared to traditional hypergolic fuels while maintaining rapid, reliable ignition characteristics essential for missile defense applications. Current DACS systems typically use highly toxic and volatile fuels which, while offering excellent ignition delays and specific impulse, present significant handling and safety concerns. The program desires to explore cost-effective alternative fuels that offer reduced vapor pressures while simultaneously minimizing ignition delays to ensure adequate DACS responsiveness in missile defense scenarios. Candidate solutions might include, but are not limited to: ionic liquids, reaction-driven amines, boranes, and others. Hypergolic fuel blends are also an acceptable alternative so long as they could be justified in terms of miscibility and maintained performance across operational temperature ranges. Keywords: Hypergolic Propellants; DACS; Low-volatility Fuels; Ionic Liquids; Ignition Delay CMMC Level: Level 1