To reduce the mass and improve the thermal performance of the heat receiver, a heat pipe receiver was researched for the space solar dynamic power system. Corresponding mathematical and physical models were built, and a method was devised to provide a numerical equation by which the temperature of the containment canister outer wall, heat pipe wall temperature, working fluid exit temperature and the liquid PCM fraction of the total heat transfer tube were calculated and compared with those obtained from the baseline heat receiver. The results show that it is possible to improve receiver performance, to reduce the fluctuation of the working fluid temperature and to decrease the weight of the heat receiver. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.