Analytical Investigation of Surface Temperatures for Different Sized CubeSats at Varying Low Earth Orbits

Abstract

Thermal management is a challenging engineering problem for CubeSats due to the limited available volumes restricting the thermal control applications. Therefore, performing thermal modeling and analyses of these small satellites is very crucial for applying proper thermal control measures to maintain safe operating conditions in space. Despite the growing interest in this field, there are still a limited number of studies investigating the thermal behavior of CubeSats. In this paper, surface temperature profiles of 1U, 2U, 3U, 5U, 6U, and 12U sized CubeSats are simulated for varying low earth orbits. The effects of altitudes changing from 400 km to 2000 km and the beta angles changing from 0 to 75 deg are analytically investigated. Not only the coatings with different absorptance and emissivity values but also different amounts of internal heat dissipations are examined to reveal their impact on the thermal balance of satellites. Results demonstrate surface temperatures are highly dependent on those variables. The amount of heat absorbed by satellite panels is affected by the different sizes of CubeSats, different coating properties of panels, and different orbital configurations. The outcomes of this research may be beneficial especially in the early design phase for designing small satellites and selecting proper orbital configurations.