Single event upset investigations on the “Flying Laptop” satellite mission

Abstract

The radiation effects in electronic parts arecalled single-event effects, which are deemed to be critical for space missions. This paper presents the Single Event Upsets that were observed in an onboard memory device of the Low Earth Orbit “Flying Laptop” satellite mission during its in-orbit operation. The Single Event Upsets were carefully mapped on the satellite orbital space itself and their root causes were investigated together with their rates of occurrence. Subsequently, the events were traced to show several root cause sources such as (i) trapped energetic protons leaking to low altitudes within the South Atlantic Anomaly, (ii) Solar Energetic Particles emitted by an impulsive event on 10 September 2017, and (iii) Galactic Cosmic Rays. A profound analysis was carried out on the observed flight data, and its corresponding results are actually in agreement with the standard energetic particle models. The presented results provide another important insight on the Single Event Upsets for future Low Earth Orbit satellite missions.