Thermal Design, Testing and On-Orbit Performance of the Italsat Communication Satellites

The ITALSAT telecommunication system is based on the operation of two geostationary satellites:

• the first (pre-operative) launched in January '91
• the second (operative) to be launched in '96.

The thermal design of the satellites was extensively verified by analysis and test including a Solar Simulation thermal balance on the structural-thermal model and thermal vacuum - thermal balance on flight models. Additionally, on-orbit temperature data from the protoflight model is available for equinox and solstices 24 hr. transients. The results have been statistically processed and compared with test data and correlation analysis in order to provide a reliable background for thermal control design and verification of future similar telecommunication satellites.