Manufacture and Characterisation of Diffuse Optical Solar Reflectors

Antennae on modern telecoms satellites are subject to extra heating by illumination of both direct sunlight and reflection from the optical solar reflectors (OSRs). One method to decrease the temperature of the transponders is to modify the direction of the reflected light from the OSRs. OSRs with a large diffuse component of reflectance have been successfully manufactured. In this paper, we describe the manufacture and characterisation of the optical properties of these diffuse OSRs.