FOSSIL: Thermo-mechanical architecture

Abstract

FOSSIL (FTS fOr CMB Spectral diStortIon expLoration) is a proposed ESA M8 mission tailored to measure the spectral distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with a sensitivity three orders of magnitude beyond the COBE/FIRAS legacy measurement. Achieving this sensitivity demands an extraordinarily challenging cryogenic architecture: the scientific instrument must be maintained at the lowest achievable temperature (4.5 K), while the detector focal plane assembly operates at 50 mK. This paper presents the thermal architecture of the FOSSIL payload and instrument, from the spacecraft service module at 293 K down to the sub-kelvin detector stage. The thermal design draws on heritage from the Planck and ARIEL missions and relies on a staged passive cooling chain comprising a multi-layer insulation blanket, three V-groove radiators (operating at approximately 130 K, 90 K, and 50 K), and a 25 K actively cooled shield fed by an ESA-provided 4 K cryocooler chain. Sub-kelvin temperatures are achieved via a multi-stage adiabatic demagnetisation refrigerator (ADR) system developed for NewAthena/X-IFU, providing continuous cooling at 1.8 K and 350 mK, and 50 mK with an 80% duty cycle. The Focal Plane Assembly (FPA), which houses four Kinetic Inductance Detector (KID) arrays at 50 mK, is thermally isolated from the 4.5~K bench via a carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) hexapod structure with staged heat interception. We present the steady-state thermal budget across all stages, demonstrating comfortable margins at every temperature level, and discuss key thermal design drivers on the Blackbody Internal Reference (BBIR).