Accelerated UV Aging Testing for Spacecraft Reliability

Among the many challenges confronting spacecraft designers, one stands out as being inescapable: the enduring threat of ultraviolet (UV) aging.

UV rays contribute significantly to the degradation of materials on spacecraft, especially affecting glasses and other optical components commonly used in solar arrays. This problem becomes pronounced during long-duration missions.

Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc. (EMA) uses its UV aging chamber to expose your spacecraft components to UV radiation and observe how they react.

Fig. 1. EMA’s UV aging chamber located in the lab in Pittsfield, Mass.

UV Aging Testing

EMA’s UV aging chamber quickly replicates the damage from UV radiation. In just a matter of days, it ages materials the equivalent of five years in the geospace environment. The chamber helps customers ensure material properties do not change significantly, leading to the potential for electrostatic discharge (ESD) and total mission failure. EMA can test all materials and parts of a spacecraft.

“We can age your specific optic or cover glass, and we can characterize any degradation through reflectance and transmission,” EMA Senior Scientist Brian Wood says. “That can be done in-situ so you can actually see the effect as it’s being aged.”

EMA has already examined the total ionizing dose of the electron spectrum of an environment and have performed aging studies on thin films using electron monoenergetic sources.

UV Aging Chamber

Four UV-A micro discharge lamp bulbs form the chamber, and EMA combined them into a single housing and reflector, which is mounted directly into a vacuum viewport.

You can learn more about the chamber itself by reading the White Paper “Accelerated UV Aging and Degradation Studies with SERE.” Click here to download.

Additional Measurements

EMA’s Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) laboratory includes the UV aging chamber. The SERE chamber is available for commercial use. It primarily focuses on spacecraft charging issues for satellites and instrumentation. Click here to learn how EMA’s SERE lab can support your missions.

Get Answers Today

Elevate your projects with EMA. Our team analyzes your components for UV aging and delivers personalized results. Reach out now! Click here to get started.