On-orbit thermal control system design and analysis for space optical telescope ROKITS

Abstract

Space telescopes are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperature variations in the space environment depending on their orbit conditions. These temperature variations cause a significant effect on the opto-mechanical structures and lead to the final optical performance degradation. The development of space optical telescopes must achieve a thermally stable and reliable system through thermal analysis for on-orbit temperature prediction and thermal control design maintaining all components within their operating/survival temperature limits during entire mission phases. In this paper, we report the analysis results of passive and active thermal design for the ROKITS mission based on on-orbit thermal analysis taking into account the worst hot and cold conditions in the space environment using thermal analysis program - Thermal Desktop®, SINDA/FLUINT®.