ABSTRACT
The requirements for femto satellites and their parts are rigorous, since the journey and the space environment they end up in is very harsh. Their lifespan is limited to a period of 8–12 weeks. The femto satellites are satellites with a mass between 10 and 100 g. Therefore, the weight of the vane must be minimized, somewhere between 10–20 g, and must have good material properties against UV, charged-particles, and atomic oxygen radiation. The general idea behind femto satellites is their light construction and extreme compactness. This is also the main idea behind Noumenon’s shape memory polyurethane (SMPU) research, and the SMPU vane is a perfect example of this. The development of a deployable vane for the femto satellite by Noumenon using its SMPU material was another step forward in the development of CHEM space applications. Noumenon will continue working on space applications, and mainly on improvement of the SMPU to resist the harsh space environment.
