You are in Home | Materials and Coatings | Products | AZ-93

AZ-93* is an inorganic white thermal control paint developed for use on spacecraft / satellite surfaces exposed to the deleterious effects of the space environment.  Application of AZ-93 creates a nonspecular white coating that provides superior thermal control / protection by allowing only 14-16% of the solar radiation impinging on the spacecraft external surface to be absorbed through to the interior systems while emitting 89-93% of the internal heat generated to the cold vacuum of space. By incorporating a highly stabilized pigment system with a silicate binder, this spacecraft / satellite paint forms a bendable ceramic coating that has been tested time and again and has proven itself stable in the harshness of the space environment.  AZ-93 has been exposed by NASA to atomic oxygen (AO) fluence of 5.6 x 10²² atoms/cm², charged particle radiation of 4.5 x 10¹⁵ e^-/cm², and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation (from 118 nm to 170 nm) of 701 equivalent solar hours with less than 4% deterioration in solar absorptance (α_s) and less than 1% change in thermal emittance (ε_t). 

AZ-93 has been thoroughly tested and is currently being used on external surfaces of the International Space Station in many capacities including on all NASA logos (see image at lower left). A pre-cursor to AZ-93 was flown on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) and returned after 5.8 years in orbit with only a 0.01 overall degradation in solar absorptance from pre-flight measurements. AZ-93 was flown on the Optical Properties Monitor (OPM), the MIR MEEP POSA-I experiment and the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). AZ-93 has been used on the surface of the International Space Station for 10 years.

View pre- and post-flight data for AZ-93 on MISSE (after 4 years in space)

View recent studies on AZ-93 as applied to carbon composites and also exposure to weathering followed by simulated launch and space exposure.

The main advantage AZ-93 has over AZW/LA-II is cost. AZW/LA-II is more expensive but has extremely low solar absorptance. AZ-93 is AZ Technology's version of Z-93P.

The table below lists the optical and application parameters of cured AZ-93.

Note: terms reflectance, emittance and absorptance and terms reflectivity, emissivity and absorptivity are often used interchangeably. AZ version of Z-93P. We feel it has advantages in application. Z-93