In this paper, a new approach is presented to assess the risk of using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices in space systems under consideration of radiation effects that can dramatically affect reliability and performance. In the NewSpace era, the use of COTS has become mandatory, since typical space-qualified (class-1) electrical, electronic and electromechanical (EEE) components for space missions are no longer attractive due to their extremely high costs, long lead times and low performance. This paper sets out the usual constraints for COTS devices and proposes a guideline on how to select non-space-qualified components and when class-1 EEE devices are recommended for use.

Functional verification schemes at a level different from component-level testing are emerging as a cost-effective tool for those space systems for which the risk associated with a lower level of assurance can be accepted. Despite the promising potential, system-level radiation testing can be applied to the functional verification of systems under restricted intrinsic boundaries. Most of them are related to the use of hadrons as opposed to heavy ions. Hadrons are preferred for the irradiation of any bulky system, in general, because of their deeper penetration capabilities. General guidelines about the test preparation and procedure for a high-level radiation test are provided to allow understanding which information can be extracted from these kinds of functional verification schemes in order to compare them with the reliability and availability requirements. The use of a general scaling factor for the observed high-level cross sections allows converting test cross sections into orbit rates.

Nowadays, technologies have a massive impact on the design of avionic systems, even for the conservative space industry. In this paper, the single event effect (SEE) characterization of a highly integrated and radio frequency (RF) agile transceiver is being presented which is an outstanding candidate for future radio systems in NewSpace applications and space avionics. The device being investigated allows programmable re-configuration of RF specifications, where classical software-defined radios (SDR) only define an on-demand re-configuration of the signal processing. RF related configurations are untouched for common SDR and developed discretely by the specific application requirements. Due to the high integrity and complexity of the device under test (DUT), state-of-the-art radiation test procedures are not applicable and customized testing procedures need to be developed. The DUT shows a very robust response to linear energy transfer (LET) values up to 62.5 MeV.cm²/mg, without any destructives events and a moderate soft error rate.

Radio frequency (RF) systems in space applications are usually designed for a single task and its requirements. Flexibility is mostly limited to software-defined adaption of the signal processing in digital signal processors (DSP) or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA). RF specifications, such as frequency band selection or RF filter bandwidth are thereby restricted to the specific application requirements. New radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) devices also allow the software-based reconfiguration of various RF specifications. A transfer of this RFIC technology to space systems would have a massive impact to future radio systems for space applications. The benefit of this RFIC technology allows a selection of different RF radio applications, independent of their RF parameters, to be executed on a single unit and, thus, reduces the size and weight of the whole system. Since most RF application sin space system require a high level of reliability and the RFIC is not designed for the harsh environment in space, a characterization under these special environmental conditions is mandatory. In this paper, we present the single event effect (SEE) characterization of a selected RFIC device under proton irradiation. The RFIC being tested is immune to proton induced single event latch-up and other destructive events and shows a very low response to single failure interrupts. Thus, the device is defined as a good candidate for future, highly integrated radio system in space applications.

In early 2024, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced that global air traffic had essentially fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic on most routes and projected a significant increase in air traffic for 2024 and the years to come [1] . Naturally, increased air traffic has to be met with the same amount of appropriate air traffic surveillance, in order to maintain safety but also to increase the efficiency of the used airspace and possibly reduce separation distances to allow more aircraft to be safely routed through the same volume.

This paper presents an in-situ test concept for a multi-band software-defined radio (SDR) platform in a mixed-field radiation environment. Special focus is given to the complex automated test setup with respect to the requirements of the irradiation facility. Additionally, selected test results of a system-level evaluation are presented and discussed. For the verification of the mixed-field radiation environment, the software-defined radio (SDR) was also tested under proton irradiation. The cross-sections for the observed single event effects are compared and show similar results.