Innovative Mechanically Pumped loop for ACtive Antennae

2026-07-22

The satellite telecommunications industry is currently undergoing significant evolutions. Future commination satellites need to accommodate a rapidly growing demand in data transfer, combined with more flexibility. For example, there is a strong need for Very High Throughput Satellites capable of delivering up to Tb/s over wide coverage areas. This is only possible when an active phased array antenna is used. However, cooling of active antennas requires the use of a highly efficient thermal control system because it has many heat sources (from hundreds to several thousands), very high local heat fluxes (up to 200W/cm² at amplifier interface), high overall dissipation (around 13 kW), and an isothermal requirements on the amplifier chain. These conditions are impossible to solve with current state-of-the-art thermal control solutions (e.g. heat pipes or loop heat pipes), but requires a two-phase mechanically pumped fluid loop (MPL). In a MPL, a pump circulates a fluid which evaporates when it absorbs the waste heat from the active antenna. Although a two-phase MPL is a very efficient thermal control system, it is relative complex and is therefore not yet often used in spacecraft. This proposal aims to change that. The objective of this proposal is to perform research on a two-phase MPL for an active antenna, and to build a demonstrator with a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6. This two-phase MPL will be a key building block in the next generation telecommunications satellites The consortium contains the complete spectrum of partners that are required to successfully research this disruptive novel technology. The consortium contains research institutes (CEA, NLR, CERN), SME’s (AVS, Diabatix) that can eventually commercially supply this technology, and an end-user of the technology (ADS). The consortium takes advantage of its experience in state-of-the-art cooling systems for terrestrial and space applications.

Spain, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Belgium

2026-02-01