Innovations in Thermal Control and Management for Spacecraft
A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 29
Special Issue Editors
Interests: space thermal control; phase change materials; spacecraft heat transfer; magnetohydrodynamics; thermal protection systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: spacecraft thermal management; two-phase heat transfer; thermal system design; microgravity thermal phenomena
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Effective thermal control is one of the most critical challenges for spacecraft, directly influencing system reliability, mission duration, and onboard equipment performance. With the rapid development of new-generation spacecraft, satellites, deep-space probes, and crewed missions, the demand for advanced thermal control technologies is steadily increasing. Traditional methods such as heat pipes, radiators, and phase change materials are evolving toward higher efficiency, lightweight integration, and adaptability to extreme space environments. Meanwhile, emerging approaches, including magnetohydrodynamic cooling, microchannel-based thermal management, and intelligent thermal regulation, are gaining attention.
This Special Issue aims to gather recent advances and innovations in spacecraft thermal control and management technologies. We welcome contributions covering theoretical models, numerical simulations, ground experiments, flight verifications, and multidisciplinary integration methods. Through this collection, we hope to provide a comprehensive view of the current progress and future perspectives in spacecraft thermal control research, fostering collaboration across academia, industry, and space agencies.
Dr. Guiping Zhu
Prof. Dr. Nan Xiang
Dr. Yi Huang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- spacecraft thermal control
- heat pipes and loop heat pipes
- phase change materials
- microgravity heat transfer
- thermal protection systems
- two-phase flow and cooling
- radiative heat transfer in space
- magnetohydrodynamic thermal management
- space environment simulation
- thermal system optimization
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