Ideas and Innovation Blog

Kapton® Films and Pyralux® Laminates Provide Superior Performance in Satellite/Spacecraft Applications

September 06, 2021

DuPont Offers Space Satellite Applications Product Selection Guide

In addition to powering and protecting the recent Endeavor mission to Mars, innovative DuPont materials have played a vital role in space exploration vehicles and satellites for over 60 years. As these space missions get more complex, DuPont is helping designers and engineers look for new ways to use existing technologies or develop new ones to meet the ever-growing technological challenges being faced.

To assist in the development of the next generation of space vehicles, DuPont has developed a product selection guide that details the features of Kapton® polyimide films and Pyralux® copper-clad flexible circuit laminate materials.

These materials will be crucial to developing advanced reconfigurable antennas and multi-layer insulation blankets for the more than 5,000 smaller satellites (smallsats, less than 500kg) that are forecasted to be developed and launched in the next decade. These antenna systems are lightweight, low-power and miniaturized and are critical for performance of the various smallsat systems (telemetry, tracking and control (TTC), navigation, space-to-earth or space-to-space communications, radars and remote sensing). To protect the delicate electronics from extreme heat and cold and space weather, passive thermal control systems featuring Kapton® polyimide film is essential for use on deployable radiator panels or as the outer surface of a multi-layer insulation (MLI) blanket used on the satellite.