Space Technology – #36

EEs Talk Tech

Space requires new technologies. Much like the space race of the 1950s, engineers are feverishly working to gain a competitive advantage. Mark Lombardi sits down to explore rad hardening, thermal vacuum chambers, space mining, CubeSats, and battery technology.

https://eestalktech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Space-Technology-36-EEs-Talk-Tech-Electrical-Engineering-Podcast.mp3

Mark Lombardi – 25 years at HP/Agilent/Keysight. He worked for RT logic for a few years, where he got into space.

2:00 – Your odds of survival getting to space are better than getting to the top of Everest.

2:30 – Space mining from the Asteroid belt has the potential to create the worlds first trillionaire.

3:20 – We need to establish manufacturing in space. For example, what if you manufactured satellites on the moon instead of on earth?

4:00 – The main driver is price-per-pound

6:10 – The Space Force – it sounds a little silly at first but is very reasonable when you take a closer look.

7:45 – How do you test objects bound for space?

8:30 – Space is transitioning from government-only to commercial. Businesses are starting to explore how to add value to society and make a profit from space.

9:15 – Phased arrays, reusable rockets, LEO satellites are all changing space technology.

10:00 – Low earth orbit satellites have much lower delay. Geosynchronous satellites have a 250 ms propagation delay.

This has interesting implications for 5G – that 250 ms latency is too long for 5G requirements. So, LEO satellites are what will be used.

12:00 – Using LEO satellites will be deployed in force instead of as singles, as mentioned in the Weather Cubesat podcast.

13:45 – Ghana launched their own satellite, which is a huge step. They eventually won’t be dependent on others for their space access. And, they can do specialized things for reasonable prices.

15:00 – Announcements – we haven’t podcasted in a long time, sorry! We are switching to 1x per month

16:45 – Radiation hardening for electronics, sometimes called electronics hardening. Historically, you had to plan for a long life in a satellite. Now, you don’t have to.

17:30 – It’s also hard to get a rad hardened cutting-edge technology.

18:00 – LEO satellites get less radiation, so it’s less of a problem. And, since they are cheaper, you can build in an expected mortality rate.

19:00 – You can also rev hardware faster, allowing you to use newer technology. Think about imagers, the technology has moved a long way in seven years.

19:55 – Space is cold. Space is a vacuum. So, to test our gear you have to reproduce that on earth. To do that, we use special chambers.

20:50 – Thermal vacuum chambers (T vac) are used to test space objects. Automotive parts are actually very resilient to temperature changes and can be leveraged into space designs.

21:30 – What happens to electronics in space? The vacuum is a bigger challenge than the temperature changes.

23:30 – To get more bandwidth, we have to increase frequency. This leads to attenuation in the air and in cables. Some designers are switching to waveguides.

25:00 – With modular test equipment, you could potentially have test gear that can survive in space.

27:00 – What is the current and projected size of the space industry?

28:10 – What batteries are used in space? What factors into battery decisions? – Lithium ion batteries work well in space, and are used when we can charge them with solar energy.

28:40 – Deep space exploration uses all sorts of obscure battery technology.

29:10 – Electronic propulsion

30:05 – Over 150V, things get interesting. The breakdown voltage is different in space than it is on earth. So, designers have to be very careful.