Abstract: Assembly integration and test (AIT) phase needs several months from spraying thermal control coatings to launching satellite. It is a question that whether the AIT environment affects the properties of thermal control coatings. The samples with the same ACR-1 thermal control coatings as the satellite antenna were put in AIT environment. The absorptivity and emissivity of the samples were measured for six times. The effects of temperature, humidity, and cleanliness on thermal control coatings were analyzed. The results show that the variations of the absorptivity and emissivity of ACR-1 thermal control coatings are small, which have little effect on the coatings′reliability. The cleanliness has more effect on thermal control coatings′absorpitivity than the other factors. So, the satellite environment needs a high cleanliness in AIT phase.

Key words: Space environment, Thermal control coating, White paint, Parameter variationSatellite