Fig 6 - uploaded by M. Bekhti
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
Alsat-1 is the first small satellite for the Centre of Space Techniques (CTS) – Algeria. It was designed, built, assembled and tested at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) at the University of Surrey, with the participation of 11 Algerian engineers covering all aspects of micro satellite engineering within a technology transfer programme be...
Citations
... The telemetry data was taken from the 30th August 2005 file and clearly shows that the cell was charging and discharging properly. The voltage was increasing from 1.2 volts (nominal) to 1.45 volts (max) [8]. ...
Information on battery problems can be useful in guiding research to improve battery technology. Problems that are serious or reoccur are the obvious ones to concentrate on. Observed problems can be caused by more than one phenomenon. However the problem that was observed on the Alsat-1 battery module where some cells were damaged, and the damage was caused by the extreme temperatures, an explanation can be brought to this problem is that the two different inserts (simple insert and hard insert) are very close which caused an increase in heat flux. The inserts used to support the battery in the honeycomb panel have a serious impact on the conduction from the solar panel to the battery pack, and so the temperature of the solar panel closer to the battery determines its temperature. Thus for this reason the simulation was performed to see carefully this phenomenon caused by the thermal coupling of the surrounding inserts and the important feedback from the results obtained in order to avoid all risky design in the future on the Algerian satellites such as Alsat-1B. Thermal simulations showed that the adjacent inserts cause thermal interference and the adjacent inserts are highly sensitive to the effect of high temperatures. The different results obtained in this paper are very helpful in the preliminary design stage of the spacecraft and which is a very promising application in the design of satellite electrical power subsystem.
Since the commissioning of the manufacture facility and qualification of the processes in 2001, Alsat-1 solar panels were the first ones ever to be made and tested in house by SSTL. The solar panels used lightweight solar panel substrates of aluminium honeycomb with aluminium face skins. The front face skin has a polyimide insulation layer ready for the electrical lay down of the solar cells. The panel cell interconnections, bus barring and wiring are fully welded for high reliability. All stages of manufacture are routinely checked for quality assurance. Final acceptance performancetesting was performed in Farnborough. SSTL used an ultrasonic welding technique for the connection of gold coated interconnects to the front bus bar of the cell. The cells are then glassed using space qualified glass, followed by retesting and grouping in the appropriate current class. This paper describes the design procedures for the Alsat-1 body mounted solar panels manufactured, for the first time, by SSTL. Because of the power requirements both for the payload and the bus, the solar panels were equipped with high efficiency single junction GaAs solar cells mounted on aluminium substrates for a more efficient radiation shielding for the payload.
