News

In June 2024, the Artenum team presented two significant papers at the Spacecraft Charging and Technology Conference (SCTC) in Avignon, France. This international forum is dedicated to the science and technology of spacecraft electrical charging by the space environment, covering a broad spectrum of topics on spacecraft interactions with charged particles and their environmental impacts.

Validation of Internal Charging Risk Analysis within the PAGER Framework

The PAGER project, funded by EU Horizon 2020, focuses on simulating and forecasting space weather to predict geomagnetic storms and radiation effects, providing risk evaluations for spacecraft operators. Utilizing advanced tools like SpaceSuite, EDGE, SPIS-SC, SPIS-IC, MoORa, ICOne, and SCOne, the project models the risk of charging depending on the results of the space weather forecast..

The talk focused on the use of these tools to identify the risks of IESD (Internal Electro Static Discharge) between August and December 2015. Four of the six identified risks are observed in-flight IESD anomalies.

The PAGER website and the SpaceSuite Charging Forecast website are today the reference services for space-weather charging risk prediction service in Europe.

Exploring Charging Mechanisms in Polar Earth Orbits (PEO) Using SPIS

This study investigates the complex charging mechanisms experienced by satellites in Polar Earth Orbits (PEO) using the SPIS simulation tool. It examines deep negative charging events observed in missions like the Swedish/German FREJA, US/DMSP, and CNES/JASON-3, particularly during auroral activities and high-energy electron precipitations.

The Swedish Freja mission provided valuable insights into plasma environments in polar regions, highlighting significant charging events and their implications. The study analyzed various spacecraft configurations, revealing the crucial impact of hot electron populations on charging behaviors. It also explored the role of materials, such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), on spacecraft potential, emphasizing the importance of accurately characterizing Secondary Emission Yield (SEY) properties to mitigate charging risks.

This research enhances our understanding of spacecraft charging dynamics in PEO, contributing to safer and more reliable space missions and especially for communication constellations.in PEO/LEO.

At RADSHIELD 2024, an event dedicated to mapping the current state of the art in radiation shielding for space applications, Artenum presented their innovative talk “SpaceSuite Radiation Analysis Tools with GEANT4: From Radiation and Single Event Analysis to Space-Weather Driven Internal Charging Risk Forecast“. This conference aims to define future research areas, covering both traditional and novel shielding techniques essential for upcoming space missions.

Artenum presented tools modelling the effects of the space environment on space systems. With the advent of new missions, there is a heightened need for advanced 3D internal charging analysis, cumulative dose process and Single Event Effects (SEE/SEU) prediction in electronic devices. The comprehensive suite of SpaceSuite tools, designed for ease of use and interoperability, addresses these needs through innovative applications.

This presentation at RADSHIELD 2024 underscores Artenum’s commitment to advancing radiation analysis and forecasting tools, providing crucial support for the safe and efficient design of future space missions.

On June 5, 2024, at the International Magnetosphere Coupling IV (IMC-IV) workshop, a pivotal presentation titled “Advanced Charging Risk Forecast Service, further beyond H2020/PAGER” was delivered. This event brought together leading researchers to delve into the intricacies of the magnetosphere system, examining how solar disturbances can propagate to the magnetosphere, alter plasma and wave distributions, and ultimately influence the ionosphere and upper atmosphere.

Artenum’s presentation highlighted the advancements in forecasting services developed as part of and beyond the H2020/PAGER project. These services aim to enhance the prediction of charging risks posed to space assets by solar activity. The focus was on improving the accuracy and reliability of forecasting tools to better protect satellites and other space infrastructure from the detrimental effects of space weather.

The IMC-IV workshop serves as a crucial forum for experts to share insights and foster collaborations, ultimately advancing our understanding of the interconnected space environment. The discussion of these advanced forecasting services underscores the importance of continual innovation in space weather prediction to safeguard our growing reliance on space-based technologies.

A new whitepaper titled “Total Ionizing Dose Analysis with EDGE/SSAM of 1U and 6U CubeSats in Interplanetary Environment” by B. Tezenas du Montcel et al is available. The paper details the use of the Sector Shielding Analysis Module (SSAM) within the ExtendeD GDML Editor (EDGE) software to estimate the Total Ionizing Dose (TID) on CubeSats.

The study confirms SSAM’s accuracy by comparing its results with other dose calculation software, validating its effectiveness in modeling radiation effects. An example application on a 1U CubeSat demonstrates SSAM’s versatility. It highlights the challenges of the space environment, including risks from energetic particles affecting spacecraft. Artenum’s SpaceSuite tools, such as SPIS-SC, SPIS-IC, EDGE, and SEE-U, are designed to address these challenges by simulating various radiation effects.

This publication provides a robust solution for estimating radiation doses on CubeSats, which is crucial for the design and validation of space missions.

A new version of MoORa is available today.

This version 3.0.1 includes especially new outputs selection for deposited energy.

The MoORa software can be obtained by contacting us.

The Artenum team is proud to present tools modelling the Multipactor effect at the Multipactor seminar organised by CNES at Toulouse.

This talk will present:

• Iris-SEY which models the multipactor effect in an iris geometry
• The ECSS Multipactor Tool V2 which implements the required models and margins defined in the ECSS Multipactor standard document to know if an RF system can be used in-flight without extra testing

The Artenum team is presenting two talks about SpaceSuite at the 4th Applied Science Environment Conference in Huntsville Alabama.

A next step after PAGER: the Advanced Charging Risk Forecast Service

Presents our results regarding our service modelling the risks of both the surface and internal charging effect connected to space weather forecast models.

SpaceSuite, The self-consistent toolbox for space environment effects analysis

Presents our tools able to model the effects of the space environment, in particular SEE-U to model SEU cross sections for heavy ions and protons (low and high energy) and in-situ Software Error Rate (SER) for realist CAD spacecraft.

The SpaceSuite team is glad to participate to the RADECS conference in Montpellier, from September 16th to 20th.

We invite you to join us at our booth number 20 on the industrial exhibit.

New products and services on radiation and single events effects analysis will be presented.

The SpaceSuite team is glad to thank Région Occitanie (RO) and the European Union (EU) for their support and confidence into the SpaceSuite initiative through the SpaceSuite-Ô project.

In the frame of an industry-research partnership between Artenum and ONERA, SpaceSuite-Ô is a 30 months R&D project started in November 2018. This R&D activity constitutes a major and strategic investment in space environment effects analysis both for Artenum and ONERA.

This project is co-funded by the Recherche et Société(s) RO program and by the EU FEDER program. Artenum thanks as well Région Occitanie for its additional support through a complementary support convention.

An intensive R&D development activity will be performed to improve space environment effects modelling and analysis, especially in the fields of charging, radiations and contaminations. This effort should lead to reinforce the expertise of the team by the integration of new profiles into the team.