Preliminary Thermal Design for Microsatellites Deployed from International Space Station's Kibo Module

A preliminary thermal design was proposed by determining all the possible combinations of solar absorptivity and infrared emissivity on the panel surfaces of Earth-pointing satellites deployed from Japan's experimental module small-satellite orbital deployer. The three most common internal panel configurations in a 50 kg satellite with body-mounted solar cells and dimensions of 550 x 350 x 550 mm were considered. Conductive insulation was applied between the inner and outer structures to decrease the temperature change of inner components. The worst hot-and cold case conditions were estimated based on the beta angle of the orbit and the Earth's distance from the sun. The analyses were carried out using a simple tool created in MATLAB (c). The tool output combinations of optical properties that satisfied the predefined allowable temperature range of structures and components. These optical properties were subsequently verified using Thermal Desktop (c)'s SINDA/FLUINT with the RadCAD module. Using these combinations, the thermal design for microsatellites in a low Earth and non-sun-synchronous orbit may be shortened.