Multifunctional Programmable Structure (IPS) for a Modular Satellite Architecture

The DOD’s Operationally Responsive Space paradigm calls for ambitiously reducing the time required to design, fabricate and deploy a satellite to days or even hours, from the current requirement of months or years. This timeline will require modular satellite structures available on site that support plug-n-play integration with payload components. Infoscitex proposes a multi-functional structural panel with programmable electronic and thermal management capabilities. A light-weight, carbon fiber composite core structure offers structural integrity and acts to efficiently conduct heat away from thermally-controlled payloads. An innovative heat spreading technology is applied over the core, allowing it to act as either an insulator or a heat sink via real-time electronic control. This feature allows the proposed panel to provide appropriate thermal control to many payloads with disparate cooling requirements. The integrated panel supports intra-panel wiring and component interface ports compatible with emerging designs for a programmable wiring harness. During Phase I the project team will evaluate preliminary concepts through modeling and analysis, optimize the design of an individual standardized panel, define inter-panel interfaces, and demonstrate feasibility of a multi-panel structure. The Phase I objective will be to develop an optimum panel design that can be prototyped and demonstrated during the Phase II.