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Spacecraft have previously used passive cooling or pumped liquid loops to maintain proper thermal environments. Future large spacecraft, such as the Space Station, will have higher power levels and longer heat transport distances. To better meet these requirements, a two-phase thermal bus concept has evolved which includes a thermal transport loop with controlled temperature and pressure. A two-phase cooling system has the advantages over a single-phase system of lower mass flows, lower pumping power requirements, and operation at nearly isothermal conditions, since heat is transferred by evaporation and condensation. The system employs an electrically-driven pitot pump to supply a controlled flow of nearly saturated liquid to any arrangement of series or parallel evaporators.

An update of a Two-Phase Thermal Management System concept is presented including hardware status for flight prototypic components, modeling techniques, and terrestrial test results for both preprototype and some prototypic hardware. A test plan for a microgravity test on a KC 135 is discussed.