Spacecraft charging is well known threat to successful long term spacecraft operations and instrument reliability in orbits that spend significant time in hot electron environments. In recent years, spacecraft charging has increasingly been recognized as a potentially significant engineering issue for launch vehicles used to deploy spacecraft using (a) low Earth orbit (LEO), high inclination flight trajectories that pass through the auroral zone, (b) geostationary transfer orbits that require exposures to the hot electron environments in the Earths outer radiation belts, and (c) LEO escape trajectories using multiple phasing orbits through the Earths radiation belts while raising apogee towards a final Earth escape geometry. Charging becomes an issue when significant areas of exposed insulating materials or ungrounded conductors are used in the launch vehicle design or the payload is designed for use in a benign charging region beyond the Earths magnetosphere but must survive passage through the strong charging regimes of the Earths radiation belts. This presentation will first outline the charging risks encountered on typical launch trajectories used to deploy spacecraft into Earth orbit and Earth escape trajectories. We then describe the process used by NASAs Launch Services Program to evaluate when surface and internal charging is a potential risk to a NASA mission. Finally, we describe the options for mitigating charging risks including modification of the launch vehicle and/or payload design and controlling the risk through operational launch constraints to avoid significant charging environments


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Spacecraft Charging Issues for Launch Vehicles


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference (SCTC) ; 2014 ; Pasadena, CA, United States


    Publication date :

    2014-06-23


    Type of media :

    Miscellaneous


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




    Spacecraft Charging Issues for Launch Vehicles

    Buhler, Janessa L. / Minow, Joseph I. / Trout, Dawn H. | NTRS | 2014


    Launch Vehicles for Spacecraft

    K. V. Morozov | NTIS | 1975


    Launch Vehicles for Planetary Spacecraft

    Lund, Thomas | Springer Verlag | 2023


    Dynamic problems in launch vehicles and spacecraft

    Hung, F. C. / Hunt, R. M. | NTRS | 1964


    Heritage Materials for Launch Vehicles and Spacecraft

    Gamwell, Wayne / Prater, Tracie | NTRS | 2019