Space weather effects on communications satellites

Abstract

Space near Earth contains a hostile environment for spacecraft. Satellites in space are exposed to such hazards as single-event effects from cosmic rays, internal charging from Van Allen radiation belt electrons, and surface charging from energetic electrons in hot plasma injected into the inner magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms and sub storms. These geophysical phenomena are highly variable, and are collectively known as space weather. Problems associated with these hazards include loss of mission, subsystem failure, mission degradation, loss of data, phantom commands, spurious signals, and single-event effects (upsets, latchup, and burnout). Here, we describe the physical phenomena and give numerous examples of their effects on communications satellites.