Cryogenic Thermal Design of Small Electromagnetic Formation Flight Satellites

Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF) is a novel propellantless propulsion technology for formation flying satellites. Actuation in relative degrees of freedom for formation flight satellites is provided using electromagnetic forces and reaction wheels. One application for EMFF is stationkeeping for fractionated spacecraft architectures. The benefit of EMFF is that by replacing thrusters for formation flying actuation, a system is no longer reliant on consumables. Since the amount of fuel onboard small formation flying satellites can be limiting, EMFF can enable high ∆V formation flying missions for small satellites. EMFF is implemented by creating a steerable electromagnetic dipole using three orthogonal electromagnetic coils made of high temperature superconducting wire. One of the challenges of EMFF is that the superconducting wire requires a cryogenic thermal control system. This paper describes a consumable-free cryogenic thermal control system for EMFF. A cryogenic heat pipe is used to maintain cold temperatures throughout the superconducting coil while a cryocooler is used to extract heat. The design, build, and test of the cryogenic heat pipe used for superconductor cooling are presented in this paper.