Commercial passive components in space: do they make the grade?

source: Capacitor Faks, EPCI blog

Are commercial passive components good enough to use in space environment ?

The passive component market for both commercial and government space applications is a rapidly growing one. According to Paumanok market researcher, the value of worldwide government spending on space-based electronics has increased by 176% in the past 10 years making it one of the fastest growing electronics segments in the world; in addition, the market for commercial space-based electronics, a market which did not exist 10 years ago, and exemplified by the activities of such companies as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Boeing, is now at least as large as the government market.

The commercial space-based electronics market is being driven more and more by competitive market forces, and the key question arises: are commercial grade passive components “good enough” for use in space level applications.

Automotive grade components top the list of candidates, due to their pre-defined qualification requirements and manufacturing quality standards; however, the requirements for space level applications differ in some important aspects. For example, electronic components must withstand extremely high vibration during launch, and the electronic systems on a space mission are most of the time “ON”, unlike automotive systems. And, of course, components in space have a “mission critical” status.

So what philosophy, procedural processes, qualification standards, applications rules, technology selection guides etc. will it be necessary to apply to commercial components to enable their safe use in a space level environment?

The use of commercial passive components in space level environments will be discussed during the interactive panel discussion at the 2nd ESA Space Passive Component Days, held at ESA ESTEC, The Netherlands, 12th – 14th October, 2016. The keynote presentation on commercial versus COT+ qualified passive components for space applications will be introduced by EPCI (European Passive Components Institute) president, Tomas Zednicek, Ph.D.

The SPCD International Symposium is the premier European technical conference dedicated to passive components for space applications; it is an exceptional venue at which to learn more about the latest advances in the field, and to meet experts from industry, academia and agencies. The conference outline, programme and registration details are available via the conference home page here.

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