COTS Lifetime extension for the New Space market

Strategic Technology

• It can be seen here an explosive growing market
•  Assuming $1 million per satellite it can be sized as 15 billion dollars investment for the next years.
• What if there were a technology capable of increasing the lifetime of the New Space satellites at a very low cost?
• Those who used this technology would be able to have a:

 Huge reduction of their costs.

Satellites launches per year Savings from lifetime extension

Assuming a 2 years satellite lifetime 

Several Billion dollars savings

Vulnerability of electronic components

Technological advance

Squeezed electronics: reduce satellite size, mass and power

CMOS relevance grows: a whole PCB is replaced by a single IC

CMOS vulnerability grows:

• • Electromigration
  • Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown
  • Bias Thermal Instability
  • Hot Carrier Injection
  • Solder joint fracture (BGA)
  • Multi-bit Upsets
  • Single Event Latchup

What does the lifetime of CMOS integrated circuits depend on?

In INVAP we are developing new techniques with this aim

PREVENTION & MITIGATION TECHNIQUES

Thermally conductive & electrical insulator coating 

• Up to 50 degrees ambient
• High power density
• High thermal resistance
• No convection
• Upper surface path

Space Qualified Anisotropic Conducting Film

• 8760 thermal cycles per year 
• Mainly BGA packages
• Difference between CTEs
• Extremely rigid solder joints

Optimized Lockstep, checkpointing & rollback

• Increased susceptibility to SEU/SEFI
• High impact on service availability
• Difficult implementation in consumer electronics

Adaptative Single Event Latchup Protection

•  Low LET threshold
•  High cross section
•  Expensive Qualification
•  Increased consumption
•  Adaptative Threshold

New materials for Spot Shielding

• CMOS tends to be more TID tolerant
• Lifetime expectations tend to decline
• Spot shielding is still useful

Conclusions

1. There is an explosive growing market for the manufacture of small-sized satellites for LEO orbit constellations using COTS.
2. The leading edge CMOS Ics are the key to reduce the size and mass of the New Space satellites.
3. There are few or no qualified versions.
4. The up-screening process is expensive and risky.
5. It is possible to extend the lifetime of these components through low-cost techniques.
6. The constellation manufacturer that uses these techniques will achieve a significant cost reduction.

BACKUP SLIDES

New instrument: the “SmallSats” constellations

Lower production costs: automation and large-scale production

Lower launch costs: lower satellite mass and size