Protective 'Skin' Could Herald Tiny Satellite Fleet

Sept. 5, 2008 -- In what could be a big breakthrough for tiny satellites, a team of researchers has created a thin plastic-like coating that can switch from cooling to warming with a quick pulse of electricity.

The technology, announced at the recent American Chemical Society annual meeting, addresses one of the chief hurdles of developing small spacecraft that are inexpensive to build, launch and operate in orbit.

The problems are complex. Not only do satellites have to operate in a schizophrenic range of temperatures -- it is blisteringly hot in the sun and approaching absolute zero on the dark side -- they must rid themselves of heat generated by their own electronics.

Larger satellites can do this with mechanical louvers, which operate like window blinds to control how much heat is release or retained, but the devices are inefficient for small satellites.

Government, military and commercial satellite operaters have been eying micro- and nano-sized craft weighing between two and 100 pounds or so as a quick and relatively inexpensive way to get remote sensors and imaging systems into orbit.

"The trouble with small satellites is that there is not a lot mass and power to devote to thermal control," said Quinn Young with Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory. "You basically are trying to stick just your instruments and your electronics into space."