TT Electronics : Low-cost traceable space components are key for launching and removing future generations of satellites in low earth orbit

Barriers to entry in the space industry are somewhat easier to hurdle than we've historically been used to. No longer the exclusive preserve of government agencies, private space companies are developing new lower cost systems that will monitor and explore the earth.

Currently there are approximately 2271 active satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and this number is expected to grow exponentially to over 100,000 by 2030. With the vast expected increase in the volume and frequency of missions and far shorter lifecycle expectancy for these new satellites, the commercial space industry is driving the need for lower cost production of these units.

Whilst deep space missions investigate the inhabitability of other planets in our solar system, LEO missions are making a difference a little closer to home, monitoring wind patterns with lasers, photographing fields in the visible and infrared spectrum for precision agriculture, and even capturing old satellites to reduce the amount of debris in orbit. Indeed, this new generation of small, affordable satellites is enabling a wide range of applications that will play a pivotal role in shaping the world of tomorrow, and ultimately benefit all of us in our day-to-day lives.

Reliability for these global-serving applications is therefore an absolute, as well as an expectation of full traceability of each and every product within the satellite, so that any failures can be traced effectively back through the manufacturing process of the original component including raw materials, equipment used and personnel responsible. This means manufacturers must test and filter their parts to find the most reliable devices by screening components.

This is where TT Electronics is able to use its experience in the development of innovative solutions for the space industry and now launch a new portfolio that provides space-qualified components in acost-effective way. TT's New Space Electronics® range delivers high-reliability components with complete traceability and proven space grade heritage.

Taking advantage of our extensive experience in deep space projects, high-reliability components and space-qualified devices means we are ideally positioned to supply this exciting, growing era of new space system designs. The solutions in TT's New Space Electronics® range combine space-qualified devices such as transistors, diodes and power MOSFETs that are a key part of the signal chains, and power management in space designs in the form of Multi-Chip Array packages.

'We've always been extremely proud to serve the space industry with solutions for deep space, MEO and GEO applications but the requirements for LEO satellites present a hugely exciting opportunity, not just for TT but for the industry as a whole,' claims Rob Coleman, Technical Sales Manager at TT.

With hundreds of thousands of space systems being developed over the next decade - from cubesats to major satellites and autonomous launch vehicles - sources of cost-effective high-reliability radiation-tolerant components are essential. This represents a significant challenge to the industry, but a challenge that TT Electronics has the solution for. ThisNew Space Electronics® range offers a solution that delivers reduced screening yet is fully traceable, with proven space grade heritage.