FRANCE and GERMANY have undertaken a joint program to provide the two countries with direct broadcasting satellites.
The developed platforms and their thermal control must permit :
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first, to develop preoperational satellites with three operating channels
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later, to produce operational satellites with five active channels.
The proposed modular concept allows easy adaptation to various payloads
These satellites require an advanced thermal control design to:
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transfer to space highly concentrated and extremely non-symmetrically distributed heat,
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maintain correct temperatures in eclipses and preoperational phase characterized by very low dissipations.
The proposed thermal control concept relies, in particular, on various heatpipe networks (86 units, total length 118 m), large radiative areas and numerous heaters with a specific Thermal Control Electronic (TCE).
In-depth thermal analyses and important development tests have been performed to assess thermal performances