Magnetic Technologies for Space: COTS Sensors for Flight Applications and Magnetic Testing Facilities for Payloads

Abstract

The increasing trend of using Commercial of the Shelf components for Aerospace Applications makes Space Agencies open a brand new testing line devoted to the up-screening and characterization in extreme conditions of these "underqualified" components. The up-screening needs to deal with the tasks of degassing, temperature testing and thermal shock, vibration, ageing and stressing, and irradiation of the component under test. In this paper we report on the up-screening process, the previous magnetic characterization and the in-flight resulting data obtained with the magnetic sensors of NANOSAT-01 mission, one and a half years after the launch. The up-screening of the magnetic sensors used in this mission succeed. Their final in-flight qualification is on the road as the behavior of the sensors is nominal.