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The Combined 2 Phase Loop Experiment (COM2PLEX) is a SPACEHAB rooftop test facility to investigate the 0-g behavior of three different capillary-pumped loops. A flawless operation of these devices under actual space environment is an essential precondition for successful applications of this technology in future space projects. Four European companies have developed COM2PLEX in a co-operative effort under contract to ESA/ESTEC. All capillary pumped loops are of the Loop-Heat-Pipe type. The hardware shall be flown on STS 107, scheduled for launch in March 2001. At the time of writing this paper all loops are in manufacturing or under acceptance testing.

This paper presents the last developments which have been performed at SABCA under internal funding, and the application of this work on the Technological Telecommunication Satellite STENTOR. The High Performance Capillary Pumped Loop ( HPCPL ) has been defined to get a reliable operation mode under a very wide range of operation conditions. Preliminary results have been already presented (ref. (1)), showing the high performances and the reliable functional characteristics of the HPCPL. The present paper emphasises the last developments which have been performed at SABCA.

The paper presents the results of various SABCA activities in the field of two-phase heat transport, being a critical review and analysis of existing capillary pumped loops, the identification of the needs of future capillary pumped two-phase thermal control systems, the development of capillary evaporators, which incorporates nickel porous structures, that can provide a pumping pressure up to 38000 Pa, and the solving of the problem of capillary pump cavitation. These activities have led towards the development of a reliable multi-evaporator/condenser capillary pumped loop, which is discussed in details. A test loop configuration is described. The presented results of various tests clearly prove the viability of the concept for future applications. Proposed flight demonstrations are presented.