UTS researchers will conduct in-orbit experiments on their new heat management technology, aimed to making space electronics more durable.
Left-to-right: Dr Mohammad Arqam (UTS), A/Prof Nick Bennett (UTS), Matt Ryall (Mawson Rovers), Laryssa Sueza-Raffa (UTS). Photo: ARC Training Centre for CubeSats, UAVs and their applications (Cuava).
Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) will see their new heat management technology sent into orbit this month. The payload, called 'Matilda', is the first spaceflight payload built by UTS, and will be hitching a ride on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
Funded by the NSW Government, the ride-share mission known as ‘Waratah Seed’, will carry a number of experiments to test and prove new technology.
UTS Associate Professor Nick Bennett is leading the UTS project. The ‘Matilda’ payload is an innovative 3D-printed structure designed to transfer heat from computer chips to a phase change material, which stores heat as it melts.
‘Matilda’ hopes to address the increasing challenge of thermal management in the next generation of satellites. Satellites require greater onboard computational power to support sensors which are creating huge amounts of data, thus generating more heat.
Heat is one of the biggest challenges facing space electronics. With no air in space, you can’t put on a fan to cool things down. Instead, heat generated from electronic processes need to dissipate through infrared radiation, a much slower process.
Associate Professor Nick Bennett
“It’s critical that space electronics are reliable and long lasting. The current solution is to switch the electronics off to allow time for the heat to dissipate, however this is not optimal as it can leave technology offline for a period of time.”
Working with start-up space companies Sprial Blue and Mawson Rovers, the team have tested the new technology in the vacuum chambers at UTS Tech Lab. If successful, the ‘Matilda’ payload could be applied to Mawson Rover’s lunar development program.
Learn more about the Waratah Seed initiative.