Investigation of Secondary Electron Emission Coefficients during Geostationary Orbit Operations and Effects of Atmospheric Exposure

In this report, we investigate the change in SEEY with and without atmospheric exposure using Kapton-H®, which was irradiated with electron beams equivalent to 9 years of GEO operation. As a result, the SEEY of the sample that was kept in a vacuum after degradation increased compared to that before degradation, but when exposed to air after degradation, the SEEY tended to recover to the same SEEY value as that of the sample that was not degraded. This is thought to be due to the fact that the unpaired electrons generated by the cleavage of molecular chains caused by electron beam degradation tend to restore the density that has been oxidized and reduced by exposure to the atmosphere.