Abstract: In order to predict the balance temperature of thermal balance test for spacecraft, equation for predicting the thermal balance temperature was established. The parameters which influenced the prediction accuracy were analyzed. Firstly, the formula of balance temperature was derived by the node network method. The solution process of the formula based on the non-linear least square method was introduced. The iterative equation of balance temperature was deduced. Secondly, based on a large number of experimental data, a statistical analysis for three factors that influenced the results of the iteration equation was done, and a reasonable range of each factor was determined. Finally, the balance temperature of a space-camera′s temperature balance testing in low temperature condition was predicted by the temperature prediction process. At the end of the experiment, the analysis results were compared with the experiment results. It is shown that the error between the predicted temperature and the test data is less than ±1℃(the error is within 3%). It meets the accuracy requirements of the test. The accurate prediction of the balance temperature could short the test time and save the cost of test effectively.

Key words: Node network method, Thermal balance test, Temperature prediction, Non-linear least square method, Space camera