What are satellites made of?

When looking at the satellite, we can firstly find the gold color covering its surface, which is called “thermal blanket”. Satellites in space are facing severe environment – the temperature of the part directly exposed to the sunlight reaches over 100 degrees Celsius, on the contrary, shadowed side goes down to -100 degrees Celsius.

“Thermal blanket” is like a heat protective clothing of a firefighter. It is used to protect internal equipment of the satellite surviving the environment with extreme temperature differences. Depending on the satellite, not only gold thermal blanket but also black or white one is used.

Satellites need to be lighter and stronger in order to be carried to space by rockets. For the parts which require the strength, lightweight and rugged materials like stainless and titanium are used. Aluminum, plastic, and other materials are used for the parts which require specific processing.