A DIC method for thermal micro-deformation measurement of satellite high stability composite structure in simulated space environment

•Proposes a method for measuring the thermal deformation of highly stable satellite structures based on digital image correlation (DIC).•Designs a combined methodology of the digital image correlation measurement scheme, a measurement instrument protection method, a highly uniform temperature measurement and control system in the simulated space on-orbit thermal/vacuum environment.•Effectively solve the problems of measurement field interference, high uniform temperature control, speckle measurement camera, and measurement baseline protection.