BLT develops deployment structure for CubeSat satellite
June 13, 2023
Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies (BLT), Xi’an, China, reports it has helped develop and Additively Manufacture the deployment structure of the Dalian 1- Lian li Satellite, a 12U CubeSat. The satellite was launched aboard the Tianzhou 6 from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China’s Hainan Province on May 10.
BLT worked alongside Dalian University of Technology to optimise the satellite’s deployment structure for production by Additive Manufacturing. Through simulation analysis, the team redesigned most of the components, increasing stiffness and reducing the overall mass.
The deployment structure of Dalian 1-Lianli Satellite consists of multiple components such as the main frame and the hatch. The structure of the main frame is approximately 400 mm × 400 mm × 500 mm in size, with a minimum wall thickness of 1 mm, and requires high precision parts. BLT selected AlSi10Mg and used its BLT-S800 Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing machine (equipped with eight 500 W lasers) for production.
The additively manufactured parts met the required dimensional accuracy and material specifications for the satellite, enabling it withstand the extreme high and low temperatures, function in a thermal vacuum, and resist atomic oxygen corrosion.
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