Thermal and Electrical Architectures

This chapter is dedicated to the thermal and electrical architectures of a CubeSat. It describes the strategies to be adopted so that its design allows mechanical structures, equipment and/or fragile components to be maintained within specific temperature ranges – both during operation for expected performance and out of operation for its durability without degradation. The chapter discusses reliability-based design optimization as a method for ensuring the thermal and electrical reliability of the CubeSat. It describes the onboard equipment for controlling the nanosatellite, maintaining its trajectory, and performing its mission as a payload, which requires electrical and thermal energy management for optimal or acceptable operation. The chapter focuses on heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation. The heat diffusion equation reflects the conservation of heat flow. Thermal analysis is performed using the heat conservation equation.