Integrated Thermal Management System for High Power SmallSats

Pumpkin proposes the development of a revolutionary Thermal Management System (TMS) for small satellites ranging from CubeSats to ESPA class spacecraft. The TMS solution leverages breakthroughs in additive manufacturing, flexible heat pipes, and material science to dissipate extremely large quantities of waste heat in a small satellite form factor. Combined with Pumpkin’s existing power systems, the TMS will provide users with a fully integrated, turn-key bus solution for high-power payload small satellite missions. The system consists of: • structurally integrated heat pipes for efficient heat transport, • energy storage based on a phase change material (PCM) for mitigation of extreme temperature excursions to peak power, and • a rollout deployable radiator maximizing radiative surface area. Under this SBIR effort, Pumpkin will pursue the following objectives: • Develop a thermal model and simulation of TMS to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the design, • Design and manufacture a flexible radiator prototype, • Test the radiator prototype under simulated space environmental conditions to validate and verify design assumptions.