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MITA is one of the ASI standard platforms for scientific missions. Its demonstration mission was launched the 15th July 2000 from Plesetsk by means of a COSMOS rocket. According to the technological qualification goal of the mission, it was possible to use the spacecraft operations for the thermal design performance characterization; so doing several measurements were available as correlation points with the thermal model. At the end of the thermal model validation campaign an attitude control strategy was implemented in order to maximize the time used for scientific observations. In particular precious data were collected in order to reduce the modeling uncertainties in the MITA satellite’s family, whose first commercial mission is scheduled for 2003, carrying a gamma- ray telescope. In its first mission the MITA platform was carrying a particle detector called NINA, contained in a pressurized vessel.

An experimental campaign is presented aiming at the characterization of thermal dissipation of batteries to be used on board of small satellites. A suitably designed device allows to manage automatically the orbital cycling simulation between battery cell charge and discharge. The cell thermal performance is characterized in various combinations of temperature, discharge current and Depth of Discharge. The gathered data are used for providing guidelines in the design of a family of Italian Small Satellites.

Commercial heat pipes installation is proposed for a high performance space born DC/DC converter module. The module is the core of the Remote Power Distribution Assembly (RPDA) power unit for the payloads on board the Columbus Module of he International Space Station ISS. An experimental campaign is performed to characterize the thermal conductance of a copper water micro heat pipe, as a function of the power and of the temperature.