Development of Deployable Radiators at Alcatel Space

Deployable radiators (DRs) have been in development at Alcatel Space Cannes (formerly Aerospatiale Cannes) since the 1980s to respond to the increasing need of additional heat rejection area. In 1980-1985, Alcatel Space Cannes, sponsored by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), defined, manufactured and ground-tested a 250 W thermal rotating joint DR. Since 1995, Alcatel Space Cannes, sponsored by CNES, have developed a STENTOR («Satellite de Télécommunication pour l'Expérimentation de Nouvelles Technologies en Orbite») 600 W Loop Heat Pipe (LHP)-based DR. The ground qualification will be completed mid 2000 and the flight qualification is planned late 2000 (launch of STENTOR satellite). Late 1998, Alcatel Space, co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), started the development of a Deployable Lightweight High Performance Radiator (DELPHRAD). The 1200 W DR will be ground-tested by mid 2001.