Why Project Suncatcher Uses Dawn-Dusk SSO
Standard LEO orbits spend ~35 minutes of every 90-minute pass inside Earth's cold eclipse shadow (umbra), draining massive battery mass and triggering extreme thermal cycling. At high beta angles (β ≥ 68° in Sun-Synchronous Orbit), the satellite skims Earth's terminator line in perpetual sunlight, unlocking continuous solar power and uninterrupted inference pipelines.
Stefan-Boltzmann Radiative Cooling in Vacuum
With no atmosphere for convection, heat can only escape via thermal radiation: Q = ε · σ · A · (T_rad&sup4; - T_space&sup4;). When an 8.5 kW AI payload runs hot, deployable loop heat pipes transfer silicon die heat to edge-oriented optical solar reflectors. If radiator equilibrium exceeds 80°C, dynamic frequency scaling throttles FLOPS to prevent latchup.