Radiation effects in low-thrust orbit transfers

A low-thrust orbit transfer vehicle (OTV) and its payload must be designed to survive in the near-Earth radiation environment for a much longer duration than a conventional upper stage. This paper examines the effects of natural radiation on OTV's using data that have become available since 1991 from the CRRES and APEX satellites. Dose rates for microelectronics in LEO-to-GEO missions are calculated for spiral orbit raising and for multi-impulse transfers. Semiconductor devices that are shielded by less than 2.5 mm of aluminum (0.69 g/cm2) are inappropriate for spiral transfers, because they require hardness levels >100 krad (Si). Shield thicknesses of 6-12 mm reduce this requirement to about 10 krad (Si), which is still an order of magnitude higher than the radiation dose in a 10-year mission at GEO with similar shielding. The dose for a multi-impulse LEO-to-GEO transfer is about 10 times smaller than for a spiral transfer. Estimates of single event upset rates and photovoltaic array degradation are also provided