Spacecraft charging effects

In the hostile space environment, spacecraft operation may be interrupted by electrostatic discharges (ESD), resulting from a local build up of charge to an extent that a breakdown threshold is exceeded. This process, termed spacecraft charging, occurs readily at exposed surfaces but also within dielectric materials close to an unshielded surface. The author examines this, and similar effects, which are referred to as SEU (single event upsets) and stem from energy deposited in sensitive components by penetrating radiation such as cosmic ray and Van Allen belt particles