Electrical breakdown of the space vacuum

The insulating properties of the vacuum of space are examined in this paper. Generic electrode configurations are introduced to calculate the leakage current to the electrodes and the breakdown potential of the "space-vacuum" as a function of altitude above ground. The condition that defines the breakdown threshold is dependent on the size of the sheath, r/sub L-B/, relative to the interelectrode separation, r/sub c/. Results for the leakage currents and breakdown voltage are presented for both cases r/sub L-B/>r/sub e/ and r/sub L-B/