On-Orbit Thermal Performance of RADARSAT-1 Spacecraft

The Canadian RADARSAT-1 has successfully served the world as an earth observation satellite since Nov 1995. In this paper, the thermal performance of RADARSAT-1 over the 5 ears on orbit (Nov 1995–Nov 2000) has been analyzed through the telemetry temperature data. Analysis has been performed for the overall spacecraft, the subsystems and some selected units. The thermal control system of the RADARSAT-1 has been examined for cases of both normal orbital conditions and abnormal thermal environments and operations. The TCS has satisfactorily served RADARSAT-1 for a variety of thermal operations. The phenomenon of thermal-optical surface degradation has been directly observed from the thermal data, and varying behaviour of surface degradation has been detected.