A sunlight-stimulated substrate, named Mission SMS-I, carried out the orbital deployment experiment and anti-irradiation verification on an experimental geostationary satellite. It is the prototype of a solar array substrate which integrates the conventional substrate, support structure, and deployment function by using the carbon fabric reinforced shape memory polymer composite (SMPC). The substrate could deploy from the 'Ω' packaged configuration to the '-' deployed configuration once its temperature is at or above the glass transition temperature. This paper presents details of the Mission SMS-I in a sequence of material preparation, structure design, manufacture, ground experiments, and orbital experiment. Results show that the Mission SMS-I can withstand the required mechanical and thermal conditions, successfully deploy in orbit and have a good long-term anti-irradiation capability. SMPC is a suitable choice for the substrate of solar arrays or any other deployable structures which need the actuation in materiallevel or directly exposed to the space environment.

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A structure-level smart deployable truss (SDT) was further studied for on-orbit verification on the SJ18 Geostationary Satellite in this work on the basis of a material-level validation of a shape-memory polymer composite (SMPC) sheet on the SJ17 Geostationary Satellite in 2016. In the SDT, a shape-memory alloy (SMA) mechanism was used to replace traditional pyrotechnic devices for locking and releasing, and SMPC actuation laminates were employed to replace traditional motor or spring driving mechanisms. With a strict parameter constrain of mass, size, and stiffness, the current form of the SDT flight hardware was finally obtained through several cycles of optimization design. Its systematical ground-based experiments were conducted, and the overall structural and functional performance met the demands of the aerospace standards of China. The locking force and expansion breaking force of the SMA releasing mechanism were [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], ensuring the locking and unlocking reliability for the movable parts with mass 5 kg. The actuation force of all SMPC laminates decreased from [Formula: see text] (0°) to [Formula: see text] (165°) with a recovery duration of [Formula: see text], which was strong enough for SDT deployment in space. The shape-memory materials show great prospects for smart deployable structures in space.

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