Multi-Lift-Temperature Stirling Cryocooler and Controller for CubeSat Platform

Our modular double-acting free-piston Stirling cryocooler features three separate cold head acceptors and heat rejection pathways and only one moving part per cold head. While our controller holds the piston amplitudes equal, the temperature presented to each acceptor may be different. Accordingly, the heat lifted by each acceptor can vary to meet load requirements.nbsp;Some CubeSat payloads require the cooling of multiple loads at different temperatures. While the Phase I SBIR solicitation does state ldquo;a miniature two-stage cryocooler would be ideal for this type of application,rdquo; we believe that our single-stage, multi-acceptor cryocooler, and controller potentially provide a simpler solution that is easily adaptable to various CubeSat missions.nbsp;Our preliminary estimates show that our proposed CubeSat cryocooler is competitive with existing single-stage ldquo;state-of-the-artrdquo; space-qualified units in terms of size, mass, and input power. However, our cryocooler can simultaneously service multiple cooling loads at different temperatures.nbsp;The goal of this SBIR Phase I project is to complete the preliminary design for our CubeSat cryocooler and evaluate its multi-temperature performance as part of a simulated system, including a controller and vibration absorber.