Assessment of Automotive EEE components suitability for space applications

The objective of this activity is to identify the relevant additional testing required for upgrading automotive qualified EEE parts into space-qualified components, whenever possible. New standards or adaptation of existing ones will then be recommended accordingly to decrease EEE parts cost and ease procurement.

Space qualified Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical (EEE) components are often considered as very expensive compared to automotive products that exhibit similar and sometimes better performances with a demonstrated quality and reliability. Therefore, the use of automotive EEE parts might be considered as a potential solution to decrease the cost of component of a spacecraft. However, the suitability for space application of the automotive products shall be demonstrated. In addition, the approval of non-space qualified EEE parts shall follow a process that requires analysis of the component, additional testing. This additional approval process is time consuming and represents a costs that shall be considered when comparing space qualified products with non-space qualified parts. Therefore there is a strong interest to establish through approved specifications and standards, the recommendations for the procurement of automotive EEE parts for space application. Based on the analysis of the EEE component automotive qualified range, a minimum of three to five EEE components, from each of the main families (e.g. passive, active Silicon, active RF, optical) shall be selected based on identified criteria (design suitability, performance increase, cost reduction, availability, lead time, etc.). For each selected component, the automotive qualification flow shall be compared with the space qualification testing. In order to define the tests needed to upgrade the automotive qualified parts to the space qualified level. The additional testing identified in the delta analysis shall then be performed to demonstrate its benefit. The results analysis shall be performed to establish the gain in term of performances, cost and delivery time and to provide recommendation for the procurement of automotive component for space application. These recommendations shall then be communicated to the ESCC and relevant CTB WGs for consideration and potential adaptation of the existing qualification specifications or the creation of new documents.