The activity aims at the development of a structural panel prototype with integrated multifunctional structure capabilities. The purpose of this prototype shall be to demonstrate the applicability of MFS technology to typical and existing spacecraft structures, and to reach a TRL 6 level, i.e. system prototype demonstration in a relevant environment (ground or flight).

 

 

The activity shall be performed with the following steps:

 

• Identification of a relevant existing structural panel with various subsystem functionalities attached, e.g. thermal control, AOCS and OBDH units, etc.

 

• Redesign of the panel and the attached functionalities as multifunctional structure panel where the non-structural functionalities are integrated into the panel.

 

• Testing of the MFS panel under relevant environmental conditions (e.g.mechanical, thermal, radiation) in order to verify the robustness of the MFS technology under those conditions.

 

The structural panel with the integrated MFS technology shall be designed suchthat it can be easily integrated (with only minor design changes) as flight model into a spacecraft or replacing the original existing panel where it was derived from. The development plan shall include the following activities (in chronological order): identification of potential user needs, requirement specification, conceptual and preliminary design followed by a PDR, detailed design followed by a CDR, hardware procurement and manufacturing of the panel, performance verification tests.