US Patent Issued to ASTRIX ASTRONAUTICS on Nov. 4 for "Inflatable structures of or for spacecraft" (New Zealander Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,459,674, issued on Nov. 4, was assigned to ASTRIX ASTRONAUTICS Ltd. (Auckland, New Zealand).

"Inflatable structures of or for spacecraft" was invented by Maximillian Philip Daniels (Auckland, New Zealand) and William Richard Hunter (Central Auckland, New Zealand).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The disclosure relates to an inflatable structure comprising a plurality of inflatable ribs attached to a flexible and foldable sheet, and to an inflatable deployment system that deploys such a structure. The inflatable deployment system is suitable for use with or on a spacecraft, and further comprises an electronics module that triggers deployment,...