# Design and Evaluation of Flexible Support Based on Space Mirror
## 5 Conclusions  
To ensure that the space remote sensing load can work smoothly in the orbit operation stage, the mirror component not only needs to have a high level of face shape precision, but also needs to maintain the stable adaptability of the overall structure to cope with the high mechanical changes as well as the wide temperature span, which are the fundamental factors to design the environmental space remote sensing payload. Based on the research background of the square mirror in the optical system, this paper prioritizes the lightweight design of the mirror, uses Ultra-Low-Expansion Glass (Corning, New York, NY, USA) as the optical raw material of the mirror, fully utilizes the characteristics of the material's welding, designs the mirror as a three-layer sandwich structure, and selects the triangular stiffener in the middle layer. In this design, the local stiffness of the mirror is enhanced in parallel achieving the lightweight design; a biaxial circular arc flexible hinge support structure is innovatively proposed to strengthen the structural rigidity while offloading the effect of temperature on the mirror component; using the simulation analysis method, a simulation model similar to the actual optical component is established, and its static mechanics, temperature field, and part-to-part forced displacement are analyzed and calculated. The results show that the RMS value of the face shape of the mirror component reaches 0.0009\(\lambda\) (\(\lambda\) = 632.8 nm) under the effect of 1 g gravity, 0.01\(\lambda\) (\(\lambda\) = 632.8 nm) within the temperature-variable environment from 16 to 24 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and 0.001\(\lambda\) (\(\lambda\) = 632.8 nm) under the effect of 5 \(\upmu\)m forcing displacement. Finally, using the mechanical tests to verify the component, from the test data, the component in the X, Y, and Z three directions of the intrinsic frequency are 173.8 Hz, 176.4 Hz, and 271.5 Hz, close to the results of the simulation calculations of 179.6 Hz; optical tests are added before and after the mechanical tests, and the results show that the variation of the mirror and the support structure in the X, Y, and Z directions is less than 5\({}^{\prime\prime}\), which further proves the reliability of the simulation and analysis results. The flexible support design of the square reflector studied in this paper has the static and dynamic stiffness to withstand the mechanics of the launch section and the stability to adapt to the thermal dimension after orbit. The results revealed that the design is reasonable and reliable for space environment adaptability. Meanwhile, the design and test verification methods of the flexible support of the square mirror can provide certain references for the design and test of similar space mirrors, and can also provide technical guidance for the relevant research of professionals in the industry.  
Conceptualization, Z.Z. and S.D.; methodology, Z.Z.; software, S.D.; validation, Z.Z., S.D. and A.T.; formal analysis, Z.Z.; investigation, B.L.; resources, S.D.; data curation, Z.Z.; writing--original draft preparation, S.D.; writing--review and editing, Y.W.; visualization, S.D.; supervision, B.L.; project administration, S.D.; funding acquisition, Y.W. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research received no external funding.  
Not applicable.  
The data used in this research are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.  
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.