Statistical Analysis of Spacecraft Failure in Full-Life Based on STED

Basing on STED (Spacecraft Test Effectiveness Database), the statistical analysis of about 3800 flight and ground failures of 120 spacecraft launched in China. The result shows that the early failure period on-orbit last about 1 years, and failures occurs mainly in the first three year, which focus on AOCS, Payload and TTC. About 91% of on-orbit failures can recover by the ground operation, and the catastrophic and critical failures account for only 9%. Design, environment and parts are the most important basic causes of failure, and the major detailed causes is Illegal operation, Defective parts and Design error. The reasons why flight failures not discovered in ground testing have been analyzed, and related advices to reduce the failures or recover from failures are supposed from the aspects of design, testing and reliabilities.