An innovative concept for the AsteroidFinder/SSB focal plane assembly

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel athermal focal plane assembly design for the AsteroidFinder/SSB satellite, utilizing a machinable AlN-BN composite ceramic and integrated thermo-mechanical modeling to ensure feasibility.

Contribution

It introduces a new athermal design concept with a machinable AlN-BN composite ceramic and demonstrates its feasibility through integrated finite element thermo-mechanical analysis.

Findings

Successful thermal and stress analysis confirms design feasibility

Use of AlN-BN composite ceramic reduces thermally induced stresses

Design supports rapid development and iteration cycles

Abstract

This paper gives a summary on the system concept and design of the focal plane assembly of AsteroidFinder/SSB, a small satellite mission which is currently under development at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). An athermal design concept has been developed in accordance to the requirements of the instrument and spacecraft. Key aspects leading to this approach have been a trade-off study of the mechanical telescope interface, the definition of electrical and thermal interfaces and a material selection which minimizes thermally induced stresses. As a novelty, the structure will be manufactured from a machinable AlN-BN composite ceramic. To enable rapid design iterations and development, an integrated modeling approach has been used to conduct a thermo-mechanical analysis of the proposed concept in order to prove its feasibility. The steady-state temperature distribution for various load cases and the resulting stress and strain within the assembly have both been computed using a finite element simulation.