An ESD test approach for spacecraft applications

Electro Static Discharge (ESD) knowledge in space application actually available in literature is typically based on testing at equipment level with standard setups. Typical ESD setups are indicated in the standards and are used as reference by industries for equipment test. Setup and requirement guidelines indicated in the standards are applied in case of non-stringent plasma environment. In case of severe plasma environment (as, for example, low Earth polar orbit) standard ESD setups do not assure good correlation with real in orbit discharges. The aim of this paper is to present a ESD test approach performed at satellite level based on non-standard setups, designed in such a way to be more representative of the real in orbit discharges and in order to define a worst case scenario for what concern the way the current is injected. These setups were designed by Thales Alenia Space Italia (TASI) team in the frame of a Low Orbit Earth Observation Satellite qualification (i.e. COSMO-SkyMed that is a program managed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and co-financed by ASI and the Italian Minister of Defence).