Technology Overview

Space-Z devices are designed with industrial-grade components, which are generally considered less reliable than space-grade components. However, this is not always the case. Many space-grade components use the same silicon crystals as industrial-grade components, with the primary difference being packaging, testing, and control procedures. With a careful selection and testing strategy, it is possible to achieve similar reliability to space-grade avionics using industrial-grade components at a fraction of the cost.

To ensure reliable operation in space environments, we protect all components with SEL or SEFI with LET < 68 MEV/mg/cm^2 using current monitoring and power switching. This protects our devices from destructive SEL events and allows for the removal and application of power to recover from SEL or SEFI conditions.

All components used in our devices have TID ≥ 10 kRad, which is sufficient for LEO operations. For higher orbits the shielding effects of the enclosure and spacecraft structure should be estimated in order to ensure reliable operation through whole mission.

Our designs are based on FPGAs, which allow for the implementation of TMR and EDAC protection of critical memory and registers from SEUs. We have also implemented SET filtering, current monitoring, and SEL prevention inside the FPGAs for added protection.