Spacecraft Thermal Management

Abstract

All spacecraft must include a thermal control system (TCS) to maintain equipment and/or crew within tolerable temperature limits during the mission. This chapter provides an overview of spacecraft thermal control systems design and development, with descriptions of the passive and active subsystems and associated components. The necessary steps in the design process are also provided, including establishing mission and system requirements, characterizing the mission environments, developing the design concept and models, and planning a test program to ensure the system functions as expected.