A consortium of Polish companies and a team of scientists from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology is working on a device that will cool apparatus in space satellites. It is to use so-called pulsating heat pipes and weigh much less than current solutions launched above Earth.
Pulsating heat pipes are a solution that has already been proven on Earth for receiving heat streams, i.e. cooling various types of apparatus and equipment in industrial plants. For several years, the prospects for their use have been tested by the space industry.
Prototypes of the device for cooling the antenna and for cooling special detectors will be repeatedly tested, including in a thermal vacuum chamber. They will be developed under the close supervision of the funding body, the European Space Agency, and the consortium partners have committed that the devices will be at TRL-4 technology level, i.e. their operation will be verified in a near-real environment.
