Development and testing of the re-deployable radiator for deep space explorer

•A re-deployable radiator for deep space explorer was newly designed and fabricated.•Autonomous thermal control with no electric power was demonstrated under vacuum condition.•The maximum heat dissipation of 148 W at 60 °C of the heat source temperature was achieved.•A heater power saving of 25 W at −20 °C of the heat source temperature was confirmed. This paper reports the design, fabrication, and testing of a reversible thermal panel breadboard model (RTP-BBM). RTP is a flexible, re-deployable radiator that autonomously controls the temperature of a heat source. It promotes heat dissipation by deploying the radiator surface when the heat source is at a high temperature. Conversely, in a cold case, heat dissipation is conserved by stowing the radiator surface. Herein, deployment/stowing and thermal vacuum tests were conducted herein to evaluate the validity of the design, and model correlations were conducted via thermal analysis. The RTP-BBM comprises high thermal conductivity graphite sheets as the flexible fin, and shape-memory alloys (SMA) as a temperature sensitive passive actuator. The deployment/stowing test was conducted in a thermal constant bath, confirming that the fin was deployed and stowed according to the SMA temperature. However, temperature hysteresis of up to +60 °C was confirmed between heating and cooling cycles. In the thermal vacuum test, power step and power cycle tests were conducted. Results showed that the fin deployed and stowed according to the temperature of the onboard equipment while autonomously regulating the temperature. Additionally, the thermal analysis model correlated with the experimental results, showing good agreement within ±6 °C.