US Patent Issued to Trans Astronautica on May 13 for "Hybrid solar thermal and chemical vehicle configurations for space mining applications" (California, Arizona Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,297,792, issued on May 13, was assigned to Trans Astronautica Corp. (Lake View Terrace, Calif.).

"Hybrid solar thermal and chemical vehicle configurations for space mining applications" was invented by Joel C. Sercel (Lake View Terrace, Calif.), Philip J. Wahl (Alta Dena, Calif.) and James G. Small (Sonoita, Ariz.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Solar thermal and chemical hybrid rocket configurations for mining and other space applications are disclosed. One aspect is a rocket propulsion system configured to provide rocket thrust, including a solar absorber, a rocket nozzle, and a solar power collection system configured to collect solar ...