Solar Panel and Flexible Radiator for a Spacecraft

Abstract

A spacecraft (10), comprising a body (12), a solar array (30) with a support panel (32) which is connected to the body, and a thermal radiator (50) that is connected to the body and which includes a radiator substrate (52) that is thermally coupled to the body via at least one heat link (64). The solar array and thermal radiator are configured to be transitioned from a stowed state wherein the support panel and the radiator substrate are held fixed in an overlapping arrangement along and near the body, to a deployed state wherein the solar array is unfolded with the support panel positioned at a distance from the body and the radiator substrate is folded away from the body and the solar array. Preferably, the solar array and thermal radiator are flexible, to allow them to be kept in an overlapping and temporarily bent shape in the stowed state.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.