Loop heat pipes (LHPs) have been extensively investigated and considered for the thermal control of satellites and other space equipments, but some geometric limitations, as well as the use of hazardous working fluids must be considered. Focusing on such concerns, a LHP was designed and built to accomplish certain requirements towards its future application in space missions. The designing procedure had to consider some limitations, such as a reduced scale capillary evaporator and the use of an alternative working fluid. Thus, an experimental LHP was built and tested for acetone as the working fluid to manage up to 70 W of heat transfer rate. The experimental results showed a good thermal management performance of the proposed LHP for the imposed limitations to its design. The proposed LHP presented to be a reliable thermal management device for applying in future space missions, especially when considering the use of a less hazardous working fluid. © 2004 American Institute of Physics