Member Article

Ashington firm hits global headlines with high profile Solar Orbiter win

A solar satellite with a deep space mission to capture the most spectacular images ever taken of the Sun will be kept cool thanks to technology pioneered by Ashington’s Aavid Thermacore Europe Ltd.

The European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter will use k-Core Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite technology (APG) designed and manufactured by the North East business, allowing the satellite’s instruments to remain cool in searing heat as it orbits the Sun’s surface.

The Solar Orbiter is due to take off for the Sun in October 2018 on a mission to reveal more of the star’s secrets through atmospheric measurements and high-resolution images of its turbulent surface.

Aavid Thermacore is one of 10 UK companies involved in a contract valued at €300 million (approximately £260m) to build the satellite. Further opportunities on the Solar Orbiter programme are currently being worked upon by Aavid Thermacore.

The firm specialises in the design and manufacture of thermal management solutions for a variety of industries including aerospace, medical, military, telecommunications, avionics, chemical processing and transportation.

Aavid Thermacore’s k-Core technology will cool the Solar Orbiter as it travels towards and around to the Sun.

The satellite will orbit within 43 million kilometres of the Sun’s surface where temperatures reach 5,500 degrees Celsius.

Aavid Thermacore will assist in the design and manufacture of two radiators for the Solar Orbiter programme. These radiators will dissipate the heat generated by the spacecraft’s electronics to cooler points on the perimeter of the satellite.

The company is also developing solid conduction bars which will take heat from sensitive areas of the satellite to the radiators.

Geoff Thompson, Aavid Thermacore vice president sales and marketing, said: “The Solar Orbiter contract is a high-profile win for our business in a project which will generate global headlines.

“The key benefit our k-Core technology brings to the thermal management toolbox of Aavid Thermacore is the ability to provide a product which basically has the same weight, strength and structural performance as aluminium, but with a huge increase in thermal performance.

“The other main advantage is that k-Core can be used in applications where there are major issues with gravity and acceleration.

“So for example, in aerospace, where a Typhoon fighter will pull 9G in a steep climb or dive, a standard heat pipe with water inside will not function very well – whereas k-Core will not be affected at all.”