Engineering Confidence in Orbit: Advanced Space-Environment Testing in the SERE Laboratory
Understanding how spacecraft hardware responds to the space environment is critical to mission success. Surface charging, electrostatic discharges, and radiation-induced material degradation can all directly influence system performance, reliability, and lifetime.
Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc. (EMA) has built the Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) laboratory to address these challenges through controlled, end-to-end testing of flight-relevant components. By combining realistic environments with precise materials-level characterization, the SERE lab supports confident, test-backed engineering across the full spectrum of space-environment interactions.
Main Chamber
The main test chamber serves as the primary platform of the SERE lab, conducting spacecraft charging, electrostatic discharge (ESD), and arc detection investigations. It is designed to accommodate a wide range of test articles and experimental configurations.
Test samples are introduced through the chamber’s front-access door and may include complete instruments, RF antennas, connectors, solar panels, or other flight-relevant hardware. Once inside, the chamber is used to replicate the charged-particle environments these components are expected to encounter in orbit.
Environments are mimicked using multiple radiation sources positioned at the opposite end of the chamber. This includes two electron sources and a proton source, each capable of delivering energies up to 100 KeV. This configuration enables controlled exposure to representative electron and proton fluxes for surface charging, differential charging, and arc initiation studies.
In addition to high-energy particle sources, the chamber includes a low-Earth orbit (LEO) plasma simulator, also referred to as a low-energy plasma generator. This system is primarily used for charge neutralization and plasma interaction studies, allowing investigation of mitigation techniques and spacecraft-plasma coupling effects.
An upcoming enhancement is the integration of a strontium-90 radiation source. This higher-energy source will enable investigation of potential internal ESD events that cannot be adequately characterized with lower-energy particles alone. With this new addition, the main chamber will span the full energy range relevant to the space environment, from 1 KeV to 2.2 KeV, significantly expanding applicability for both surface and internal charging research.
Load Lock Chamber
The load lock chamber is designed to support experiments in the main vacuum chamber by enabling sample transfer without exposure to oxygen. This capability allows samples to be introduced into the main chamber, processed or dosed, and then removed through the load lock while maintaining a controlled environment. By combining multiple test steps within this configuration, comprehensive total ionizing dose (TID) studies can be performed efficiently without breaking vacuum.
An accelerated UV radiation source is integrated directly with the load lock chamber to support material degradation studies. During a space mission, spacecraft materials are subjected to prolonged ultraviolet exposure, which can lead to change in material properties. The accelerated UV source enables radiation testing across relevant spectral ranges, allowing researchers to evaluate long-term UV effects on materials within a shortened time.
In addition to radiation testing, the load lock chamber includes a constant voltage conductivity fixture as part of the material characterization suite. While conductivity measurements are generally straightforward, they become significantly more challenging when working with extreme insulating materials. This fixture enables precise characterization of such insulators by measuring how much charge they can decay away.
Secondary Electron Yield
The SERE lab also characterizes secondary electron yield (SEY), which describes how a material accumulates charge under electron bombardment.
The system directs electrons onto the material and measures how many secondary electronics are emitted. This setup supports measurements of both insulating and conducting materials. By quantifying SEY, researchers can better predict how a spacecraft, instrument, or material will charge in its operating environment.
These measurements are critical input for software simulations, where accurate charging models are essential for reliable results.
Laser Induced Damage Threshold
The SERE lab is also equipped with a high-powered laser system designed for laser inducted damage threshold (LIDT) testing. In these experiments, controlled laser pulses are applied to materials or components to quantify the energy levels at which damage initiates.
LIDT results can be directly correlated with experiments conducted in the main vacuum chamber, enabling a comprehensive assessment of how specialized optical components perform in a simulated space environment. This includes evaluating the effects of environmental charging or radiation dosing on optical behavior.
After an optic is exposed and characterized in the main chamber, LIDT testing is performed to determine whether prior dosing has altered its damage threshold or failure mechanisms. These measurements can be further augmented with microscopic analysis to characterize damage and assess the optic’s robustness to TID effects.
Enabling Confident Design for the Space Environment
Together, the SERE lab’s integrated capabilities provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how spacecraft components behave in the space environment. By combining realistic environmental simulation with precise, materials-level diagnostics, the lab enables engineers and mission designers to move beyond assumptions toward validated, test-backed performance. This end-to-end approach reduces risk, strengthens design margins, and supports more resilient spacecraft systems across the full mission lifecycle.
Contact EMA today to turn complex space-environment challenges into confidence engineering decisions.
