Plasma ESD Qualification Test Procedure of Alcatel Alenia Space Solar Array

The detrimental effects of spacecraft charging are well known, particularly when the charging leads to arcing on solar array and, consequently, to permanent power loss. Motivated by these concerns, Alcatel Alenia Space has undertaken several test campaigns to qualify solar array design and to investigate margins. This paper describes the state-of-the-art Alcatel Alenia Space solar array electrostatic discharge laboratory test setup and procedure. The primary discharges are created using a plasma source and negative polarization of the sample rear side. The required power to feed the arc can be delivered by a solar array simulator with low-capacitance power sources. The test sample is fully representative of a flight model