ISSN Online: 2688-7231
ISBN Flash Drive: 978-1-56700-497-7
ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-496-0
Proceedings of the 25th National and 3rd International ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer Conference (IHMTC-2019)
Thermal Control of Small Satellite in Very Low Earth Orbit
Аннотация
Small satellites need special attention in its thermal control
for in-orbit environment as well as testing in ground due to
the challenges regarding dimensional and weight constrains,
harsh orbital environment and nil or minimal redundancy
philosophy. Present paper discusses thermal control of small
satellite for very low earth orbit. As the orbit is lower earth
orbit, the issue of atomic oxygen (AO) is major concern.
Conventional external surfaces of satellite (Kapton based
multilayered insulation, flexible optical solar reflector, solar panel, paints, etc) are susceptible to atomic oxygen in very LEO environment and needs protective coatings/layers. To
mitigate the same, AO protective surface are implemented
such as beta cloth (glass cloth embedded in Teflon) as outer
surface of MLI, silicone based black paint, SiO2 coated flexible OSR etc. Theoretical estimation of erosion yield and eroded thickness for Kapton was also predicted with the open source SPENVIS software. This paper discusses thermal
control for this satellite for AO environment. Experience
during Thermal implementation, ground testing and in orbit
performance.