Thermal Hardware
Sunshields
Sunshields have as main purpose to avoid direct impact of sunlight to the dedicated hardware. By the application of sunshields, the maximum temperature of hardware can be reduced, UV-sensitive surfaces can be protected and Speculative-sensitive instruments are not disturbed; hot spots can be avoided.
HPS is offering two categories of sunshields. Sunshields for antennas or antenna parts and sunshields for optical instruments.
The following Sunshield-categories are in our portfolio:
- Antenna Sunshields
- Instrument Sunshields
Sunshields can be made of one single layer (SLI) or an MLI stack and Small Sat MLI
Thermal Hardware
Antenna Sunshields
HERA Antenna with Sunshield
H2NBA Reflector with Sunshield
Reference mission examples with antenna Sunshields, for which HPS has been selected as MLI-supplier:
- Sunshield for Antenna on Heinrich Hertz „HPS-DE Prime“ (German SatCom mission, launched in 2023)
- Sunshield for Antenna of HERA Mission „HPS-DE Prime“ (launched in 2024)
- GeReLEO-SMART Sun Shield „HPS-DE Prime“ (scientific antenna experiment, launched onboard on Heinrich Hertz (German SatCom mission, launched in 2023.
Special Features of Antenna Sunshields
The sunshield material for antenna applications must exhibit high transparency for radio frequencies (RF) while in parallel UV-radiation must be reflected and static charging at the surface during mission must be avoided.
Germanium or STAMET as coating on polyimide-based substrate-foils, for instance, fulfills these requirements and is therefore mostly used by us as baseline material (remark: VDA-coated films are not RF transparent).
Typical material characteristics are:
Outer Layer Epsilon: approx. 0.7 [-]
Outer Layer Alpha: approx. 0.4 [-].
Temperature range: From cryogen up to +200° C
Thermal Hardware
Instrument Sunshields
Sentinel 4 single radiator sunshield
Sentinel 4 overall sunshield
Reference mission examples with Instrument Sunshields, for which HPS has been selected as MLI-supplier:
- Large Sentinel 4 sunshield for radiator panel „HPS-DE Prime“ (S4 has been launched in 2025)
Special Features of Instrument-Sunshields
Instrument sunshields are similar to regular MLI, the lay-up is mostly the same. One of the key points is a suitable support structure to the sunshield-blankets.
It must be designed allowing a correct positioning of the blankets and the attachment points must be selected and located in such a way, that the blankets can sustain the mechanical loads. Often it is necessary to add some flexibility in the design to avoid tearing or even cracking of the sunshield blankets. Typical material characteristics are as the Classic- , VDA- or Black MLI.
Typical material characteristics are:
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