Engineering Design of an Active–Passive Combined Thermal Control Technology for an Aerial Optoelectronic Platform

In order to ensure the imaging performance of the aerial optoelectronic platform system in low temperature environment, an active-passive combined thermal control technology was studied. A thermal control finite element model of the aerial optoelectronic platform was established. Additionally, thermal control simulation analysis and experiments under extreme conditions were carried out respectively. The simulation and experimental results showed that the temperature level of the primary mirror is improved above 25 °C by the proposed thermal control technology effectively, meanwhile the temperature gradient of the primary and secondary mirrors are less than 5 °C. The successful implementation of this active-passive combined thermal control technology provides a technical support for the precision thermal control of aerial optoelectronic platforms.