Development of Electron Emitting Film for Spacecraft Charging Mitigation II Improvement of Performance
- Paper number
IAC-08.C2.6.5
- Author
Dr. Minoru Iwata, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
- Coauthor
Prof. Kazuhiro Toyoda, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
- Coauthor
Prof. Mengu Cho, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Tatsuhito Fujita, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Yasumasa Hisada, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Hideyuki Igawa, Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Tetsuro Sato, Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Hirokazu Masui, Japan
- Coauthor
Dr. Teppei Okumura, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan
- Coauthor
Mr. Shinji Hatta, MUSCAT Space Engineering Co., Ltd., Japan
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Since the end of the last decade, size of geostationary (GEO) satellites has increased dramatically. Nowadays, power level of 10 kW is very common among commercial GEO telecommunication satellites. For such a high power generation, there is need to increase bus voltage to more than 100V to decrease cable mass and to increase electrical power transmission efficiency. However the risk of discharge on the solar array increases with the bus voltage. The discharge can cause short-circuit and may lead to destruction of the power system, and then entire functions of spacecraft may fail as the power is lost. Such discharges occur due to anomalous surface charging that a part of dielectric surface on a satellite has a different potential from the satellite body potential. Therefore, by making an escape path of stored charge on dielectric surface, we can avoid the discharge on solar array. The purpose of this work is to develop the methods to mitigate surface charging applicable to GEO satellites. We have already developed the device ELF’S CHARM (Electron Emitting Film for Spacecraft Charging Mitigation), obtained good mitigation performance, and presented in previous this congress. The electron emission device emits electrons from the spacecraft structure via field emission. Usually, the potential of spacecraft structure falls to negative when the spacecraft encounters the substorm. The electron emission device prevents the spacecraft potential from falling negative. In this paper, we present approaches to improve the performance and confirm the stability on the device. The details of experimental results will be presented at the conference.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.C2.6.5.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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