Thermal control of a small satellite

Abstract

The objective of all the TRISAT project is that the spacecraft will remain operational for a minimum of two years in a day-night sun synchronous orbit with an altitude of 600 km. The objective of this master thesis is to make a thermal study of the TRISAT satellite. The study is focused in the batteries, the most sensitive part of the satellite to the temperature, trying to find the best solution to make them remain operational during the satellite life, maintaining a good performance. The first part is to find information of the batteries to know the range at which they can work. This research shows us that the batteries can work correctly without losing performance between 0-50ºC. In the second part the different energies that influence the satellite are calculated to finish calculating the temperature of the satellite in different moments of the orbit. Afterwards the zone of the satellite where the batteries are located is studied to know the amount of heat needed to maintain the batteries in acceptable temperatures. In this part it is calculated that adding an insulator between the batteries and the support is useful but also a heater is needed. With all this information a solution for the heating of the batteries is defined.