The heat transfer features of the thin-walled shell of an inflatable aerodynamic decelerator for CubeSat nanosatellites

Small spacecraft, first of all, nanosatellites of a CubeSat standard have a relatively small operational life. After their operational lives have expired, they turn into space debris. Disabled spacecraft can be transferred to the disposal orbit in the dense atmosphere using inflatable decelerators in order to avoid pollution of the near-Earth space. Decelerator’s temperature state is formed under the action of thermal radiation from the Sun and the Earth and kinetic heating caused by movement in a free-molecular medium. The specific features of heat transfer of inflatable decelerator’s thin-walled spherical shell are considered. The inflatable decelerator is designed for spacecraft removal during moving in the low-earth orbit.