IMPROVING GROUND THERMAL VACUUM TESTING FOR SMALL SATELLITES OF THE "AIST" FAMILY

The purpose of this study is to perform an analysis of the process of experimental testing of the thermal control system of the "AIST" small satellite, using the computer simulation of the satellite's flight in the "TERM" software package. Based on the telemetry data, obtained by the Samara University satel- lite ground control center, actualized parameters of the ground testing process were proposed. The ground testing parameters were verified by calculation of the satellite's panels temperatures using the "ANSYS Thermal" software sys- tem both for the initial conditions obtained from the ground testing documenta- tion and the ones that were proposed after the analysis of the thermal flow on the satellite.