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Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites

Anwar Ali Orcid Logo, Muhammad Rizwan Mughal, Shoaib Ahmed Khan, Vincent Teng Orcid Logo

Results in Engineering, Volume: 25, Start page: 104217

Swansea University Authors: Anwar Ali Orcid Logo, Vincent Teng Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104217

Abstract

Recent developments in the miniaturization and cost reduction of small satellites have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. The miniaturized and lightweight modular small satellites have resulted in an extensive range of multi-unit small satellites. The most challenging design aspect of...

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Published in: Results in Engineering
ISSN: 2590-1230
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70056
first_indexed 2025-07-30T11:56:58Z
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spelling 2025-08-18T11:24:48.4165899 v2 70056 2025-07-30 Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites f206105e1de57bebba0fd04fe9870779 0000-0001-7366-9002 Anwar Ali Anwar Ali true false 98f529f56798da1ba3e6e93d2817c114 0000-0003-4325-8573 Vincent Teng Vincent Teng true false 2025-07-30 ACEM Recent developments in the miniaturization and cost reduction of small satellites have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. The miniaturized and lightweight modular small satellites have resulted in an extensive range of multi-unit small satellites. The most challenging design aspect of the multi-unit small satellites is thermal control. In space environment, heat can be removed through conduction and radiations, because there is no heat convection, which further intensifies the need to ensure thermal stability during the design and development phases. In this paper, we present a thermal model of a small spacecraft power-management tile. Using the proposed thermal model, the thermal resistance is measured analytically for a single tile. The proposed model is applied to a single small-unit satellite structure and the resultant thermal resistance is measured. The analytically measured thermal resistances of the satellite is verified using an experimental setup. Furthermore, analytical techniques are applied to 4 U (4 units) and 8 U (8 units) multi-unit satellites. From the resultant lower value of thermal resistance, it is concluded that the heat absorbed by the spacecraft tile facing the sun is quickly dissipated to the opposite relatively cooler tile on the dark face and eventually radiates to the space environment. The proposed model is a useful tool for the preliminary design phase of a spacecraft design. By utilizing the proposed model, the designer can determine the type of material and its dimensions that can be used to obtain low thermal resistance of the spacecraft structure. Journal Article Results in Engineering 25 104217 Elsevier BV 2590-1230 Satellite; Thermal model; Thermal resistance; Multi-unit satellites 1 3 2025 2025-03-01 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104217 COLLEGE NANME Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering COLLEGE CODE ACEM Swansea University 2025-08-18T11:24:48.4165899 2025-07-30T12:51:42.1722070 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering Anwar Ali 0000-0001-7366-9002 1 Muhammad Rizwan Mughal 2 Shoaib Ahmed Khan 3 Vincent Teng 0000-0003-4325-8573 4 70056__34869__da040cad2ff24db19a47e554d583c4b7.pdf 70056.pdf 2025-07-30T12:56:52.0483973 Output 11763503 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
spellingShingle Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
Anwar Ali
Vincent Teng
title_short Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
title_full Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
title_fullStr Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
title_full_unstemmed Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
title_sort Thermal modeling and empirical verification of multi unit small satellites
author_id_str_mv f206105e1de57bebba0fd04fe9870779
98f529f56798da1ba3e6e93d2817c114
author_id_fullname_str_mv f206105e1de57bebba0fd04fe9870779_***_Anwar Ali
98f529f56798da1ba3e6e93d2817c114_***_Vincent Teng
author Anwar Ali
Vincent Teng
author2 Anwar Ali
Muhammad Rizwan Mughal
Shoaib Ahmed Khan
Vincent Teng
format Journal article
container_title Results in Engineering
container_volume 25
container_start_page 104217
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2590-1230
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104217
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, General and Mechanical Engineering - Electronic and Electrical Engineering
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Recent developments in the miniaturization and cost reduction of small satellites have attracted the attention of researchers worldwide. The miniaturized and lightweight modular small satellites have resulted in an extensive range of multi-unit small satellites. The most challenging design aspect of the multi-unit small satellites is thermal control. In space environment, heat can be removed through conduction and radiations, because there is no heat convection, which further intensifies the need to ensure thermal stability during the design and development phases. In this paper, we present a thermal model of a small spacecraft power-management tile. Using the proposed thermal model, the thermal resistance is measured analytically for a single tile. The proposed model is applied to a single small-unit satellite structure and the resultant thermal resistance is measured. The analytically measured thermal resistances of the satellite is verified using an experimental setup. Furthermore, analytical techniques are applied to 4 U (4 units) and 8 U (8 units) multi-unit satellites. From the resultant lower value of thermal resistance, it is concluded that the heat absorbed by the spacecraft tile facing the sun is quickly dissipated to the opposite relatively cooler tile on the dark face and eventually radiates to the space environment. The proposed model is a useful tool for the preliminary design phase of a spacecraft design. By utilizing the proposed model, the designer can determine the type of material and its dimensions that can be used to obtain low thermal resistance of the spacecraft structure.
published_date 2025-03-01T05:26:21Z
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score 11.090091

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