Power Line Protection Devices in Space Applications

Simple fuses are seldom used on Board of Satellites for power line protections. Besides the obvious consideration that they can not be changed during flight operations, fuse blowing can generate high inductive spikes in the satellite power bus and therefore endanger the operations of other subsystems or units. Active overload protections are therefore the preferred choice in space application. This paper describes a very fast Latching Current Limiter (LCL) that can be placed at power input of any satellite subsystem, providing overload protections without generating dangerous voltage transients. A detailed theoretical analysis of a discrete LCL, followed by experimental characterization on an Elegant Breadboard, will be presented in the paper. A potential Hybrid implementation will lead to a light, flexible, simple and easy to use device.