High Power Radiator and Switchable Advanced Thermal Systems

Emerging small satellites are a candidate to fill the Air Force’s need for more rapid and lower cost tactical space platforms. However, a gap exists in the small satellite market for optimized thermal management products. Thermal management issues plague SmallSats late in their design cycles, resulting in drastic de-rating or failure to meet performance objectives. Roccor proposes to develop an extremely thin paraffin actuated thermal switching layer that can be used independently or in concert with Roccor’s high-strain composite deployable radiators (ROCoolTM) and extraordinarily thin, flat heat pipes (FlexCoolTM) to enable unprecedented high power thermal dissipation tailored to the needs of SmallSat payloads or ConOps. The resulting High Power Radiators and Switchable Advanced Thermal System (HiPRSAT) produce an agile approach to thermal management across a spectrum of small satellite scales to reduce risk and enable a responsive space paradigm for urgent Department of Defense needs.