A research team led by mechanical science and engineering professor Mickey Clemon at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is testing advanced cooling systems in space to improve heat sink performance for satellite electronics.
Space presents a unique challenge for electronics: high waste heat output with no atmosphere for convective cooling. To counteract this, the team embedded a w by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2025
A research team led by mechanical science and engineering professor Mickey Clemon at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is testing advanced cooling systems in space to improve heat sink performance for satellite electronics.
Space presents a unique challenge for electronics: high waste heat output with no atmosphere for convective cooling. To counteract this, the team embedded a wax-based phase change material inside heat sinks, allowing the wax to absorb heat by melting at typical electronics operating temperatures. This method enables longer safe operational periods by storing thermal energy more efficiently.
"We're testing different duty cycles and cooling regimes with the fixed heat sinks that we've put up there," Clemon said. "The idea is for this to inform design and operating sequences for other electronics and computing in space."
The team's test rig was launched aboard a CubeSat-compact satellites measuring 10 cm on each side-in August 2024 as part of the Waratah Seed Mission. The satellite carries multiple payloads, including the experimental heat sinks. "We alternate our experiments with those of the other payloads," Clemon added.
Thus far, results have been promising. The melting wax significantly extends electronics' safe temperature range, and microgravity has shown no impact on the wax's placement or behavior on the heat sinks. The researchers also developed simplified performance models to guide future designs.
"We've developed some simplified models to predict the performance of these heat sinks that may provide a first direction for designers to test their designs against rather than having to build something and test it physically," Clemon said.
The team plans further testing to study how orbital sunlight exposure affects the cooling process. "Our orbit is about 90 minutes, and because of that we have some sun exposure time and non-sun exposure time," Clemon explained. "There's an underlying heating profile from the sun itself, and we want to explore the effect of that on the computing time that's available for the electronics."
Research Report:Investigating the performance of a heat sink for satellite avionics thermal management: From ground-level testing to space-like conditions
Related Links
Waratah Seed Mission
Space Technology News - Applications and Research