Space Environment and Radiation Effects Lab FAQ

Space radiation testing early in a program is essential for catching hardware vulnerabilities before a spacecraft reaches the harsh, unpredictable space environment. Space radiation, charged particle bombardment, and extreme thermal-vacuum conditions can degrade materials, disrupt electronics, and put mission success at risk if their effects are not understood ahead of time.

Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc. (EMA) developed the Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) Lab to give spacecraft programs controlled, ground-based radiation effects testing and spacecraft charging testing capabilities. The SERE Lab lets engineering teams evaluate how components will perform in orbit, identify design risks early, and build more resilient, flight-ready spacecraft.  

This FAQ answers the most common questions about space environment testing at the SERE Lab, so your team can prepare for space with confidence.

About the SERE Lab

What is the SERE Lab?

EMA’s Space Environment and Radiation Effects (SERE) Lab is a commercial testing facility that recreates space-like radiation and vacuum conditions on the ground. Programs use the SERE Lab because a poor understanding of radiation effects can lead to performance degradation, component damage, or full mission loss. By running space environment testing and spacecraft charging testing before flight, engineers validate materials, components, and subsystems and gain test-backed confidence in their designs.

Charging Testing Chamber

What types of testing can SERE perform?

The SERE Lab performs spacecraft charging studies, electrostatic discharge (ESD) and arc detection, radiation effects testing, and material and component aging testing. These capabilities are used to evaluate how sensitive electronics, optics, solar arrays, detectors, and other spacecraft components respond to the space environment over time.

How is SERE different from testing in space or at another facility?

Ground-based space environment testing at the SERE Lab offers advantages that on-orbit testing and many traditional test facilities can’t match. Unlike testing in space, the SERE Lab lets engineers run controlled, repeatable radiation effects tests and collect far more data per test, without the cost, schedule, and access constraints of on-orbit testing. And unlike many traditional radiation test facilities, SERE combines multiple radiation sources in one chamber and supports dynamic, configurable space environments, so complex orbital radiation profiles can be reproduced in a single test run instead of requiring separate test setups.

Where is the SERE Lab?

The SERE Lab is located at the Berkshire Innovation Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. EMA’s team includes some of the field’s leading experts in space simulation and testing.

Who uses the SERE Lab?

The SERE Lab is designed for spacecraft engineers, radiation effects researchers, and mission planners who need to understand how the space environment affects materials, electronics, and spacecraft systems.

Benefits of the SERE Lab?

The SERE Lab provides a controlled testing facility to assess how spacecraft components, electronics, and materials perform under realistic space radiation and vacuum conditions.  

The SERE Lab helps you:

• Predict mission risk by modeling radiation environments and its impact on hardware
• Improve electronics reliability through space radiation effects testing  
• Validate spacecraft designs and materials before launch, reducing costly failures
• Support mission assurance with space environment test data aligned to industry standards
• Increase confidence in flight hardware through access to space radiation testing experts and specialized simulation tools  

What is a real-world example of SERE Lab testing?

One example is EMA’s ongoing work with NASA Johnson Space Center to develop a new verification approach for Artemis spacesuits in the lunar environment, where electrical charging, ESD, and lunar dust triboelectrification pose real risks to astronaut safety. By pairing Ansys Charge Plus simulation with empirical testing in the SERE Lab, EMA helps identify worst-case charging scenarios, evaluate spacesuit material stackups, and target physical validation where it matters most, giving NASA test-backed confidence in the suit’s performance before it reaches the Moon.

Technical Capabilities

What equipment makes up the SERE Lab?

The SERE Lab is equipped with a main radiation test chamber, load lock chamber to preserve vacuum during sample changes, a secondary electron yield chamber, and laser-induced damage threshold measurement system. Together, this equipment lets EMA replicate realistic space radiation conditions and precisely characterize how materials and components respond.  

What energy ranges and radiation sources does the main chamber support?

The SERE Lab’s test chamber houses an array of energy sources spanning roughly 5 keV up to more than 2 MeV across a large working area. Combining multiple sources lets EMA produce realistic, broad-spectrum radiation environments, rather than a than a single monoenergetic beam, closely matching what a spacecraft would encounter in orbit.

Radiation Sources

Can you simulate a specific orbit or mission environment?

Yes. The SERE Lab’s dynamic shuttering and source control let EMA customize the space radiation environment inside the chamber during a test, including complex orbital radiation profiles, eclipse conditions, and accelerated lifecycle and aging scenarios, all without needing to break vacuum between phases.

What size or type of components can be tested?

Test articles for space environment testing are mounted on a sample plate inside the vacuum chamber, on the order of ~24 inches, that accommodates a wide range of spacecraft component configurations. EMA can advise on fit and mounting during test planning, reach out with your component’s dimensions and requirements.

What sensors and diagnostics are used during testing?

The SERE Lab uses video monitoring, spatial arc detection, and multiple additional sensor modalities to characterize how a test article responds, capturing charging behavior, discharge events, and other radiation effects with a high degree of empirical accuracy.

Can multiple radiation sources run simultaneously, and can they be adjusted mid-test?

Yes. The SERE Lab’s test chamber is built to run several radiation sources at once and dynamically shutter or reconfigure them during a test. This is what allows EMA to reproduce an entire orbital radiation cycle, including eclipse transitions, in one continuous run instead of multiple isolated tests.

Resistivity Measurement and UV Aging Exposure

What is UV aging testing and why is it part of the SERE Lab?

EMA’s UV aging chamber exposes spacecraft materials to ultraviolent radiation across relevant spectral ranges, compressing years of space-equivalent UV exposure into just days. Because UV radiation degrades optics, cover glass, solar array materials, and thin films over the course of a mission, this testing reveals material property changes before they can trigger ESD or other failures in orbit.

How does the SERE Lab measure UV degradation?

The UV aging chamber is integrated with the load lock chamber, so reflectance and transmission can be measured in-situ, without breaking the vacuum, while a material is being aged. This lets EMA characterize degradation as it happens rather than only before and after exposure.

Secondary Electron Yield System

What is secondary electron yield (SEY) and why does it matter?

Secondary electron yield is the ratio of secondary electrons a material emits to the number of primary electrons that strike it, and it determines whether a surface accumulates positive or negative charge. Because uncontrolled charging can degrade performance or compromise system reliability, accurately measuring SEY is critical for predicting how spacecraft surfaces, particle accelerators, and other high-energy systems will behave in operation.

How does EMA measure secondary electron yield?

EMA’s SEY chamber uses a pulsed electron source ranging from 20 eV to 10 keV, a hemispherical grid field analyzer, and custom sensitive current measurement equipment, along with active charge balancing to neutralize accumulated charge and keep results repeatable. Measurements are taken on both insulating and conducting materials and feed directly into Ansys Charge Plus simulations to model charging behavior and multipaction effects.

Laser Induced Damage Threshold Testing

What is laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) testing?

LIDT testing applies controlled laser pulses to a material to determine every level at which damage begins, then uses microscopic analysis to characterize that damage. This is especially important for optical components, which must be evaluated for their ability to withstand radiation and environmental charging over a mission’s lifetime.

How does LIDT testing relate to the main radiation test chamber?

LIDT results can be directly correlated with testing conducted in the main vacuum chamber, allowing EMA to assess how an optical component’s performance changes after exposure to radiation or environmental charging, and evaluate its robustness against total ionizing dose effects.

Process and Logistics

Do I need to break vacuum between test phases and how does that affect test time?

No. One of the SERE Lab’s core advantages for space environment testing is that complex, multi-phase radiation profiles can be run in a single test without breaking vacuum. This significantly cuts test time compared to facilities that require reconfiguration between phases, which in turn reduces the overall cost of your radiation effects testing program.  

How long does a typical test campaign take?

Space environment test timelines depend on the scope of the test article, the radiation environments being simulated, and how many conditions need to be evaluated. Because the SERE Lab avoids repeated vacuum breaks and can reproduce full orbital radiation profiles in one run, campaigns are generally faster than multi-facility or multi-session alternatives. Contact EMA with your test objectives for a specific schedule estimate.

What do I need to provide to get started?       

Typically:

• A description of your test article (materials, dimensions, sensitivities)
• The mission environment or orbit you’re concerned about
• Any relevant CAD or design data if simulation support is also needed

EMA’s team will work with you to translate your mission profile into a test plan.

Standards and Compliance

What industry standards does SERE testing align with?

SERE Lab testing follows established industry protocols, including ISO11221 for solar cell coupon ESD testing, and its methodologies for total ionizing dose, secondary electron yield, and laser-induced damage threshold characterization are consistent with common aerospace test practices. Because every program has its own qualification and documentation requirements, EMA works with customers during test planning to align testing with the specific standards their mission needs to meet.

Simulation Integration

How does SERE work together with Ansys Charge Plus for simulation?

Ansys Charge Plus is EMA’s fully coupled surface and spacecraft charging simulation tool. It enables engineers to simulate air breakdown, surface charging, internal charging, coupled charging, and dielectric breakdown using familiar CAD-based workflows. Used together, Ansys Charge Plus simulation identifies the highest-risk spacecraft charging scenarios and design questions while SERE testing empirically validates them.

How well does SERE Lab data correlate with Ansys Charge Plus predictions and can discrepancies be used to refine the simulation model?

The SERE Lab and Ansys Charge Plus are designed to work together as a space environment testing and simulation loop: simulation identifies the highest-risk conditions worth testing and physical test data then validates the simulation’s assumptions for that material or configuration.

Can EMA simulate first and only test the highest risk cases?

Yes. Running Ansys Charge Plus simulations early in the design process is a common and recommended approach, since it helps narrow down which conditions pose the greatest radiation risk. SERE Lab testing can then focus on those specific high-risk cases, reducing the overall cost and time of your radiation effects test campaign.  

What does Ansys Charge Plus simulate?

Ansys Charge Plus simulates how spacecraft accumulate, distribute, and discharge electrical charge in the space environment, including:

• Surface charging from space plasma interactions
• Internal charging from high-energy electrons
• Differential charging between different spacecraft materials and geometry regions
• ESD events and the risk they pose to electronics
• How spacecraft design choices affect charging behavior

Deliverables

What kind of deliverables will I receive and how are they used?

Customers receive space radiation test data and analysis characterizing how their component or material responded to the simulated space environment, including charging behavior, discharge events, and degradation over simulated mission lifecycle. This data supports design validation, risk reduction decisions, and can help justify new technologies or materials for flight programs. Specific report formats can be discussed during test planning to match your program’s documentation needs.

Benefit of SERE Lab Testing  

What benefits do you gain from working with the SERE Lab?

By using the SERE Lab for space environment and radiation effects testing, you gain measurable results that improve spacecraft reliability and mission success, including:

• Verified radiation tolerance of electronic parts and materials
• Accurate predictions of how flight hardware performs in orbit
• Identification of spacecraft design weaknesses before launch
• Reduced mission risk through validation radiation models and test data
• Higher confidence in mission assurance, backed by expert radiation effects analysis and modeling
• Cost savings by preventing failures before hardware reaches orbit  

What support does EMA provide?             

EMA provides end-to-end support for space programs through precise space environment measurement, spacecraft charging and radiation effects testing, and advanced simulation tools to help teams validate and protect spacecraft systems before launch.

Who should reach out to EMA?

The SERE Lab is a fit for anyone needing to analyze the space radiation environment, radiation effects on electronics, and material degradation, including:

• Spacecraft and satellite designers
• Radiation effects engineers
• Mission assurance and reliability teams

How can I get started?

Reach out to EMA to:

• Request a mission consultation
• Discuss your technical challenge
• Schedule a demo of our space environment measurement and radiation effects simulation tools

Contact EMA to speak with our SERE Lab space radiation experts and see how the SERE Lab and Ansys Charge Plus can support your program.