Proposal of Functional Thermal Control Systems for High-Power Micro-Satellite and Its Demonstration under Thermal Vacuum Condition

Abstract

In previous years, several high-power micro-satellites below ~100 kg have been developed for high-functional spacecraft. This paper proposes a functional and high-power thermal control system with no power supply and a simple configuration for micro-satellite: 100 W, 3 U. The proposed system consists of a heat storage panel (HSP) with pitch type CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer), a micro loop heat pipe (m-LHP) and a flexible re-deployable radiator (FRDR) as an active thermal control system. The aim of this research is to try not only to verify the thermal control devices, but also to perform a water phase change experiment as a payload using an electric power generation of 100 W in space environment. In this paper, the basic design of the satellite, the analysis of the feasibility by the thermal mathematical model, and the fabrication of thermal test model including water phase chamber are reported. The main results of thermal analysis as feasibility verification showed that the paddles could absorb the thermal energy up to 97 W at the solar input of 180 W, and the operating temperature of bus equipment became within the allowable temperature range (0 ° C - 40 ° C). At thermal vacuum test, the difference between the analysis and the experiment for the temperature history of water due to the discordance for the value of thermal conductance was discussed.