AMDROHPSat – A 3U CubeSat to Test an Additively Manufactured Deployable Radiator with Oscillating Heat Pipes
- Paper ID
99033
- DOI
- author
- company
California Polytechnic State University; Cal Poly, SLO
- country
United States
- year
2025
- abstract
CubeSats have become extremely popular over the past decades, and as they become more advanced many require the capability to dissipate high thermal loads. Previous CubeSat missions have used deployable radiators which rely on mechanical hinges. However, most hinges have low thermal conductivity that limits radiator performance. To address this, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the CubeSat Lab at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo have spent the past 4 years developing AMDROHPSat. The AMDROHPSat project consists of two parts: the radiator, AMDROHP (Additively Manufactured Deployable Radiator with Oscillating Heat Pipes), and the satellite, AMDROHPSat. The satellite is a 3U CubeSat that will use two AMDROHPs to demonstrate 50W of total heat dissipation in low earth orbit. AMDROHP transmits heat through flexible metallic heat pipes that offer far higher thermal conductivity than a mechanical hinge. The project will investigate the viability of oscillating heat pipe radiators in orbit and help enable future CubeSat missions to use high-power payloads. This paper will cover the design of the AMDROHP payload, the CubeSat that will test it in orbit, and the mission concept of operations. Extensive effort and testing went into designing the AMDROHP heat pipes, which will be explored in this paper. The thermal performance of different radiator designs will also be covered. Several prototypes of the radiator have been printed throughout the design refinement process. 3D Printing the radiator has enabled rapid prototyping and geometries that would be impossible with other manufacturing methods. The most recent version of AMDROHP uses a Ni-Ti alloy to plastically deform aluminum heat pipes and deploy the radiator on orbit. AMDROHPSat, which is being developed by undergraduates at the Cal Poly CubeSat Lab, is responsible for demonstrating the performance of two ADMROHP’s in low earth orbit. The satellite will deploy both radiators, run experiments, then collect data and return it to the team. Heaters placed on the evaporator plate of each radiator are used to simulate a heat load and run experiments. The choices for AMDROHPSat’s ADCS, hold-down and deployment mechanisms, power systems, and data collection systems are detailed. A concept of operations for the mission will be presented, as well as a plan for test data to be collected. AMDROHPSat is planned to launch in 2027, with the integrated satellite handoff scheduled for June 2026.