Research on lightweight outer baffle for coaxial space camera

Stray light is non-imaging light that reach the optical system imaging plane. The non-imaging light can be received by detector if it is not effectively controlled, and stray light which directly irradiates on the detector has great influence on the imaging quality. Stray light can be effectively inhibited, if the outer baffle of space camera is designed optimally. Carbon fiber composite material is chosen as main material to meet requirements of a coaxial space optical system. The outer baffle should have advantages, such as lightweight, high stiffness and dimensional stability, etc. Using optimization design tools, the lightweight outer baffle is designed. And finite element method is used to check the structure. Development and test results show that the outer baffle with a diameter of 620mm and a total length of 1200mm only weighs 7.3kg. And the baffle´s natural frequency reaches 88Hz, and it can satisfy the requirements of the space camera.