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Future telecommunication and constellation satellites share a common objective to improve their thermal control performances when compared to the current state of the art. They are increasingly demanding in heat transport and thermal dissipation. Thus the use of classical thermal devices such as heat pipes or typical radiators are not sufficient anymore for the overall spacecraft thermal control. Therefore, the expected thermal control needs in the near future have motivated and directed, since about 5 years, new developments as e.g. Loop Heat Pipes. This technology is now almost mature and the industrialisation phase is being started. Indeed, as they give valuable possibilities and advantages to the thermal design of the platform, the LHPs constitute the most promising system to ensure particularly: □ The North / South radiator thermal coupling.

Deployable radiators (DRs) have been in development at Alcatel Space Cannes (formerly Aerospatiale Cannes) since the 1980s to respond to the increasing need of additional heat rejection area. In 1980-1985, Alcatel Space Cannes, sponsored by Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), defined, manufactured and ground-tested a 250 W thermal rotating joint DR. Since 1995, Alcatel Space Cannes, sponsored by CNES, have developed a STENTOR («Satellite de Télécommunication pour l'Expérimentation de Nouvelles Technologies en Orbite») 600 W Loop Heat Pipe (LHP)-based DR. The ground qualification will be completed mid 2000 and the flight qualification is planned late 2000 (launch of STENTOR satellite). Late 1998, Alcatel Space, co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), started the development of a Deployable Lightweight High Performance Radiator (DELPHRAD). The 1200 W DR will be ground-tested by mid 2001.

An ESA technology programme led to the successful development of an aluminum extruded heat pipe family based on a multi re-entrant grooves design and using ammonia as working fluid. This family, called High Capacity Grooved Heat Pipe (HGP), has been submitted to a space qualification programme according to ESA standards (ESA PSS-49; see ref.[1]), which aimed to fulfill an as large as possible range of potential applications. Therefore, four heat pipe diameters (11 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm and 25 mm), two heat pipe outer shapes (circular, saddles integrated) and two heat pipe configurations (straight, bent) have been selected for going into this space qualification. The space qualification programme, started in 1994, ended up early 1997. The present paper presents the HGP heat pipe family characteristics and the space qualification programme.