A method, a system, and an article of manufacture are disclosed for cryogenic cooling of systems operating at cryogenic temperatures or higher. Applications of this disclosure are as varied as trucking of meat and vegetable to mine sweeping and MRI systems. A cooling network is formed by coupling blocks of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) modules together with optional thermal switches or valves and optionally with an active cooling component to maintain a cryogenic temperature in a cryostat. The TES modules are combinations of thermal conducting elements to conduct heat and solid storage elements to absorb heat. The cooling component may be one or more cryocoolers for steady state and transient heat transfer conditions and may be coupled with the TES modules via thermal shunt connections. The thermal switches or valves may be deployed within the thermal shunts to control the flow of heat between different TES modules and cooling components, thus reconfiguring the cooling network.