Aerospace Instrument-Making Annotation << Back INVESTIGATION OF OPTIONS FOR ENSURING THE THERMAL REGIME OF A SPACE MICRO-APPARATUS M.M. Poluyan, V.V. Duga, D.A. Mosin In this article, the tendency of increasing the share of small spacecraft in the total number of launched spacecraft is noted, the development of microcosmic devices of applied importance is singled out separately. In this regard, specialists of the domestic rocket and space field face a wide range of scientific, technical and engineering tasks related to the functioning of microcosmic devices in near-Earth space. The authors have chosen the task of ensuring the thermal regime of the microcosmic apparatus as the subject of the article, while the emphasis is placed on the processes of external heat exchange. FemRad specialized software was used as a tool for assessing the temperature field of the external elements of the microcosmic apparatus. Before carrying out calculations with the help of specialized software, a grid model of the CubeSat microcosmic apparatus of the 3U format was constructed, as well as initial data corresponding to the typical functioning of spacecraft of this type in near-Earth space, under conditions of maximum shadow duration, were prepared. As the key design elements of the microcosmic apparatus that perceives heat flows, its lateral faces are selected. The flight conditions of the microcosmic apparatus are its flight with two faces towards the sun, with a minimum angle between the normal of the face and the vector on the sun equal to forty-five degrees. The calculation of the temperatures of the faces was carried out according to two scenarios reflecting the extreme boundary conditions of the functioning of the microcosmic apparatus. The conditions of the first scenario assumed that the heat exchange between the faces is negligible or completely excluded. The condition of the second scenario was the provision that the heat exchange between the faces is ideal - it is carried out by means of thermal conductivity and re-emission. The result of the calculations were the critical values of the temperatures of the faces and, as a consequence, the need to ensure the thermal regime. Since the logic of microcosmic apparatuses assumes minimal cost and maximum simplicity, the authors rejected the way to ensure the thermal regime by introducing additional thermal control system units into the microcosmic apparatus. Instead, a method for increasing the heat capacity of the face by increasing its thickness is considered and subjected to additional calculations. The result of additional calculations was the conclusion that an increase in the wall thickness of the microcosmic apparatus by two whole fifteen hundredths of a time will ensure proper heat exchange, as well as slightly complicate the technology of its creation. At the same time, the total increase in the mass of the microcosmic apparatus is predicted to be no more than fi ve percent, which is not critical for this type of spacecraft. Keywords: microcosmic apparatuses, thermal regime of the spacecraft, FemRad, heat fl ows, specific heat capacity, spacecraft design, CubeSat. DOI: 10.25791/aviakosmos.1.2022.1261 Pp. 34-43.