Space Science Applications Laboratory

The Space Science Applications Laboratory (SSAL) at The Aerospace Corporation has had a multifaceted program in Single Event Effects (SEE) research since 1978. A major part of the program consists of laboratory experiments, using heavy-ion accelerators and subsequent analysis to determine the susceptibility of spaceflight components to SEE. These components have ranged from simple gates to gate arrays, microprocessors, signal processors, and charge-coupled devices. Since the beginning of the program, SSAL scientists and engineers have tested more than 800 different components for dozens of military, national security, commercial, and scientific spaceflight programs. In addition, the Aerospace team is active in the investigation of on-orbit anomalies, using both analysis and experimental data.

The great majority of the SEE testing takes place at the 88-inch cyclotron facility installed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.