Cryocooler Market Size (2024 - 2029)

Cryocooler Market Analysis

The Cryocooler Market size is estimated at USD 3.26 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 4.45 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 6.40% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

• Technological development of cryocooler technology significantly expanded the use of these devices, as they can extend from a hospital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to military night vision devices to even longwave instruments on a space telescope.
• Some of the major factors driving the adoption of cryocoolers included the growing adoption across the military and defense sectors to maintain cryogenic temperatures for IR sensors installed in night-vision-based systems. The use of night vision devices has significantly increased in the last few years as countries advance their defense capabilities. Moreover, countries are increasing their military spending to adopt new technologies. As per SIPRI, in 2022, the United States spent around USD 876.94 billion on its military.
• Further, cryocoolers are used extensively in defense applications, mainly for the cooling of infrared focal planes. Quite specifically, cryocoolers are typically used to cool intrinsic semiconductor-type focal planes for mid-wave infrared (nominally 3-5-micron wavelength) and longwave infrared (nominally 9-12 micron) sensors.
• A significant number of improvements to cryocoolers have occurred in the past two decades, which, in turn, have allowed many more applications of cryogenics to flourish and find their way into the marketplace.
• Cooling of infrared and visible cameras continues to provide opportunities for small cryocoolers. While recent years have witnessed a shift from cooled to uncooled IR cameras, a market remains for high-performance infrared imagers cooled by small Stirling cycle cryocoolers.
• Developing spacecraft thermal management systems that depend on predictable cryocooler performance is one of the most challenging aspects of space thermal system design. Most of the developers rely on very sparse cryocooler performance data when conducting their system-level trade-offs.

Cryocooler Industry Segmentation

A cryocooler is a device that provides active cooling at cryogenic temperatures. As per the Cryogenic Society of America, Inc., a cryogenic cooler, or cryocooler, is designed to allow active cooling at temperatures of about -150 degrees Celsius. They use the flow of gas inside closed tubes, which absorbs the temperature and radiates it outside. The device generally uses helium or a mixture of gases.

The cryocooler market is segmented by end-user vertical (space, healthcare, military, commercial, transportation, and other end-user verticals) and geography (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World). The market sizes and forecasts are provided in terms of value in USD for all the segments.