Electronics Reliability in Space: Simulating Rad Hard Designs

Space is a harsh environment. There’s no breathable air, radiation levels are 15 times higher than on Earth, and the approximate temperature is 2.7 Kelvin (minus 270.45 degrees Celsius or minus 454.81 degrees Fahrenheit).

Thankfully, Earth’s atmosphere does a great job protecting us from space’s intense climate. But because there is no atmosphere in space, there’s nothing to protect satellites and other spacecraft from the extreme radiation and temperature fluctuations. T

he harshness of space can affect spacecraft components, including power electronics, guidance and navigation, and communications, all of which are critical functions.

Because many spacecraft being launched are uncrewed, there’s almost no way to repair components should something go awry. To prevent mission failures, the reliability of the electrical components in the systems is paramount.

Simulation solutions enable design teams to develop robust space platforms and maximize the probability of long-term success for these expensive programs by offering a means to accurately simulate a broad variety of instruments, materials, and orbital targets.

Galactic X-Rays

Much like people, systems on spacecraft are affected by short- and long-term radiation exposure.

• Short: Single-event effects (SEEs) are electronic disturbances caused by one highly energetic particle.
• Long: Total ionizing dose (TID) is the overall accumulated dose of radiation from different sources, including electrons, protons, heavy ions, x-rays, and gamma rays.

The sources of radiation most commonly are from particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field, solar particle events (SPEs) during solar flares, and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). The ionization of these particles can cause detrimental effects on spacecraft electrical systems.

The particles cause a charge buildup that can’t dissipate because spacecraft are not grounded to anything. When charge accumulates, it induces electric fields.

The magnitude of the electric fields may exceed the breakdown of air, plasmas, or dielectrics and lead to electrostatic discharges (ESDs). Studies show that about half of spacecraft anomalies are caused by spacecraft charging effects.