The thermal design of the thermal cutter of an antenna opening mechanism employed on a pico- satellite

In CubeSat-sized satellites the effective placement of the communication system´s antenna is crucial both from weight and volume-wise point of view. Due to the size of the antenna, the only way it could be located inside the satellite was in a folded state. Thus a procedure had to be devised to open the antenna in a safe and reliable way using a thermal cutter in a wide temperature range. This paper summarizes the design considerations of the thermal cutter. It touches on the measurements and tests that were conducted in order to verify the design on the ground. The thermal cutter described in this article worked flawlessly on the Masat-1 CubeSat that was put into orbit in 2012. The results of the measurements conducted during the opening procedure in space are also described in the paper.