Teledyne Labtech is leading an initiative to improve thermal management systems for space electronics within the Advanced Thermal Management for Space Electronics project (ATMS). The development is being carried out in collaboration with Bangor University and supported by the Airbus Endeavr programme, created by Airbus in partnership with the Welsh Government.
The main purpose of the project is to overcome one of the most difficult problems of space engineering: heat removal in a vacuum. The team is working on lightweight and scalable PCB technology, that uses synthetic graphite to efficiently dissipate heat from components and improve thermal radiation capability in space.
Graphite is considered as a promising alternative to copper, which today is widely used for thermal conductivity. At Teledyne Labtech, we are focused on increasing the efficiency of heat transfer across the plane of the board, while experts at Bangor University are working on enhancing the ability of materials to radiate. Для цього вони застосовують ультрашвидкісні лазери, якими створюють мікроскопічні текстури на поверхні синтетичного графіту та інших матеріалів космічного класу. Such modifications significantly increase heat emission and may open the way to a new generation of spacecraft.
The task has important practical significance: many satellite microprocessors operate at about half their rated power, to avoid overheating. ATMS technology has the potential to remove this barrier, providing faster on-board data processing and increasing the efficiency of space systems.
Source: https://www.spacedaily.com