COTS Devices for Space Missions in LEO

In the framework of the NewSpace revolution, time–to–market and budget constraints drive the development of small and medium–sized satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) orbit. The adoption of Commercial Off–the–Shelf (COTS) components represents the current trend to fulfill the NewSpace goals, given their low cost, wide product availability, small time–to–market, and the ability to integrate the most recent advancements in space applications. However, migrating from radiation-hardened (rad–hard) devices to COTS ones requires ensuring comparable reliability levels. To this end, an “up–screening” of the COTS devices and systems should be performed in compliance with widely adopted standard regulations, such as those used by ESA or NASA. In this paper, we review COTS components and systems, such as diodes, Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs), Field Effect Transistors (FETs), Operational Amplifiers (OPAMPs), memories, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), proven–flight or ad–hoc tested for compliance with standard regulations. In conclusion, the most promising devices in terms of cost and radiation tolerances are identified, providing useful benchmarks for space engineers developing COTS–based innovative systems.