Development of the thermal control system of the European Service Module of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) is a spacecraft intended to carry a crew of up to four astronauts to destinations at or beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Under an agreement between NASA and ESA, ratified in December 2012, the new American Orion MPCV will be powered by a European Service Module (ESM) based on the design and experience of the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle), the supply craft for the International Space Station (ISS).

The MPCV ESM will provide the Orion vehicle with propulsion as well as electrical power and storage of water, oxygen and nitrogen for the mission, it will also ensure the thermal control of the whole vehicle by collecting and rejecting heat generated by the Crew Module (CM) toward space.

The Thermal Control System (TCS) of the MPCV ESM is composed of two parts: the Active TCS (ATCS) based on fluid loops that collect heat from CM and from ESM dissipative items and reject it toward space via body mounted radiators and the Passive TCS (PTCS) composed of a set of heater lines, Multi-Layer Insulations (MLI) and Hot Thermal Protection to perform the thermal control of the ESM and protect it against external environment.

This paper provides an overview of the Thermal Control System (TCS) configuration of the MPCV European Service Module (ESM) at Critical Design Review (CDR) stage.