Space Systems/loral, LLC

Other

Randy Pon

Lenny Low

Heat transfer systems and methods 30 for use on a spacecraft that use a loop heat pipe to transfer heat from a remotely located heat source to a thermal radiator or other heat dissipating apparatus. The loop heat pipe is a two phase heat transfer device that has an evaporator coupled to the heat source and a condenser coupled to the thermal radiator or other heat dissipating apparatus. The loop heat pipe comprises thin walled tubing to connect the evaporator and condenser. The thin walled tubing allows the loop heat pipe to be flexible. This flexibility offers significant advantages in terms of routing and accommodating design

Heat transfer of a remote heat source using a loop heat pipe

Heat dissipating apparatus or system for dissipating heat generated by a payload on a spacecraft having a plurality of surfaces. The system includes at least one radiator-condenser coupled to one or more of the surfaces of the spacecraft and a heat pump including an evaporator, a compressor, and an expansion valve coupled in a closed-loop manner to the radiator-condenser. The system components are coupled together using small diameter, thin- and smooth-walled tubing. The system enables the radiator-condenser to be elevated above the source or payload temperature, and, along with the use of thin walled tubing, reduces the mass of the spacecraft. Because the radiator-condenser temperatures are elevated, multiple surfaces of the spacecraft (west, east, earth and aft) can be effectively used as radiating surfaces.

Spacecraft radiator system using a heat pump

In a presently preferred embodiment of this invention a spacecraft includes at least four thermal radiator panels, with a first pair of said panels being initially stowed along a North facing surface of said spacecraft and a second pair of said panels being initially stowed along a South facing surface of said spacecraft. Each of said panels is coupled to a hinge mechanism at an anti-Earth facing end of said spacecraft and is rotatable by said hinge mechanism from a stowed position to a deployed position. The deployed position is a position that is off of the anti-Earth facing end of the spacecraft. In the presently preferred embodiment of this invention, when in the deployed position a longitudinal axis of each of said panels forms a non-zero angle with an Earth-pointing axis of said spacecraft.

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Randy Pon