Product Overview
Sunshade is the world’s best thermal control material with ESD and RF transmissive performance. It is targeted for use on spacecraft and satellite systems operating in LEO, MEO, and GEO. Sunshade is now available in free film or tape versions. It is offered commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), is space-qualified and is flight-proven.
The DSI Difference
DSI Sunshade was originally developed in collaboration with satellite system engineers looking for improved thermal control using RF-transmissive materials with added electro-static discharge (ESD) properties. Sunshade’s continuous coating is distinct from patterned grid films in that no metallic materials are used in its construction.
DSI Sunshade comes in sizes up to 2.5 ft x 10 ft. A low emissivity coating on the back surface reduces the thermal load on the satellite and balances the stress of the front surface coating. This makes the product easy to roll and unroll and renders it sufficiently flexible and conformable to enable it to be easily wrapped onto complex-shaped radome assemblies.
DSI Sunshade’s tape version allows for easy peel & stick thermal control.
Technical Information
Traditional multi-layer insulation (MLI) blankets for satellite and spacecraft use consist of a layer of metal coating on a plastic film. Several of these sheets are combined with insulating spacer layers to complete the assembly. This configuration provides highly efficient blocking of solar heat radiation, but the metal coating also absorbs and reflects radio frequencies, thus attenuating the signal and lowering data rates. To address this, a grid pattern is typically laser ablated in the metal film to allow some RF transmission. However, there remains a direct relationship between increased solar heat blocking and reduced data transmission in MLI blankets.
DSI Sunshade coatings are a unique, all-dielectric thin film applied to polyimide sheets. They are used in a single-ply. The all-dielectric construction efficiently reflects solar heat radiation but is also virtually transparent at radio frequencies below 18 GHz.
