Microchip Technology’s senior manager of product marketing, Nicolas Ganry explains how the company is helping ‘New Space’ companies to deliver components that will last for many years.

Microchip is the largest supplier of commercial space components in the industry. Over the last 65 years, the company has built a portfolio of the broadest range of components for all types of space system designs. Microchip provides microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs, memory, data converters, communication interfaces, oscillators and power devices – for all types of planetary space missions to satellites orbiting Earth.

Databeans market research highlights that Microchip supplies 19% of the market, which is three times larger than any other industry supplier. This comes in part from its heritage of strategic acquisitions – bringing the company the broadest range of products with a wide range of qualification levels and the experience to know what is required in a project.

Q) Why does the space sector matter to Microchip?

The space industry is undergoing fundamental and exciting changes. New companies, such as SpaceX, Amazon and Telesat are putting thousands of satellites into orbit over the next few years, and these devices will need to be replaced regularly. Even car companies like Geely are putting up their own satellites to provide data services to vehicles, so it’s a very exciting market.

These new applications are driving both shorter design cycles and higher volumes. That is very different from the geostationary satellites for satellite navigation systems and global communications that remain in orbit for 20-30 years, or missions to other planets that must survive some of the harshest environments in the solar system.

Space is a strategic global industry. The EU is spending €13 billion on developing its industry as a strategic priority for broadband communication, navigation and sensing. This, as well as the development of new low-cost launcher rocket designs, is driving a new generation of start-ups developing a wide range of space technologies.

Q) How are space components different from, say, chips for the automotive market?

Reliability and long-term supply is key for space designs. Testing the components at each stage, from the wafer, die and package, is a key element of qualifying devices for space operation. The full QML qualification process requires hundreds of tests across huge temperature ranges with detailed reporting and tracing for the most challenging designs. However, this can cost millions of dollars for a market that will buy only a thousand devices a year, so it’s a very specialised area and tends to be used for longer-term missions in space.

This is very different from commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices that may go end-of-life right at the time a space design comes to production. Even among automotive qualified parts with an extended temperature range, not many can tolerate temperatures from -55 to +125°C – and there may not be the packaging or availability needed for designs in orbit. Space also is a much harsher, extreme operating environment with respect to radiation effects on components. It’s important that these parts are designed and tested to survive the mission requirements. 

To operate in such environments, Microchip develops devices with radiation-hardened processes, and with designs using built-in redundancy for the highest levels of reliability. These radiation hardened by design (RHBD) devices are designed with redundancy and rad-hard elements to ensure performance in space for many years.

Microchip is also upgrading COTS technology with better radiation performances to be used in space applications. Most of these COTS devices are automotive qualified, as a starting point – then Microchip improves the radiation performances of the devices to make them non-destructible to latch up. For COTS radiation tolerant (RT) devices, Microchip utilises plastic flow targeting high reliability applications with extra screening and qualification, compared to automotive devices. Ceramic space QML-grade equivalent versions are also available for COTS RT with a pin distribution compatibility to easy plastic to ceramic transition on a PCB design.

Q) What can Microchip do to reduce the cost of space designs?

The focus on reliability can lead to over-engineering which isn’t helpful for higher-volume designs, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and CubeSats. Reducing the testing to a level appropriate for the application can deliver the reliability and protection against single event upsets (SEU) that will lower the cost of a device and increase the availability. Devices can be qualified to sub-QML, the new QML Series 300 or full QML levels depending on the application requirements, the cost and timescales.  

However, knowing the appropriate qualification level is key. Being able to provide the vast majority of a design with components with the right level of qualification, cost and availability requires decades of experience that start-up companies don’t necessarily have.

Building commercial devices with a rad-hard process with sub-QML qualification and a HiRel plastic package may deliver the appropriate level of reliability for a project with a more attractive cost, volume and availability.

A COTS rad-tolerant upgrade for space applications is also a way to reduce costs of space designs. All of the early development phase of the space system can be anticipated with industrial plastic parts. Then, an easy handover to space-qualified plastic or ceramic rad-tolerant versions is a strong benefit toward addressing development cost reduction and improving time to market.

Q) What can Microchip supply?

Microchip delivers a total system solution for designers, with microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs, power management, memory, Ethernet and SERDES connectivity, oscillators, RF transceivers, and data acquisition. We also provide specialised space system management chips, such as the LX7730 Telemetry Controller and LX7720 Motor Controller with position sensing that are dedicated for this market. All of these devices make use of the appropriate level of packaging for the application, from rugged plastic to ceramic and hermetically sealed.

Microchip supports a system use case approach combining all required devices and connecting together all evaluation hardware available, and developing embedded software or bitstream, for example. All demonstration hardware and software are available on the GIT server and can be used to boost system development at customer level. It’s another way to improve time to market.

For example, we can propose a full packaged solution with related hardware and software to reconfigure a RT FPGA, with our SAMRH71 ARM microprocessor. Microchip has all of the elements to develop this type of solution. Space equipment needs to be secure and space-qualified security elements also are an increasingly essential part of all designs – and available from Microchip.

Q) Finally, who are Microchip’s space customers?

By understanding the requirements for successful space missions and proposing scalable solutions to meet challenges, Microchip is helping ‘New Space’ companies to deliver thousands of satellites that will last many years, as well as the components for ground stations and terminals on Earth. Microchip also partners with governments and prime contractors whose goals include ensuring top system performance while managing costs without compromising reliability and security. In addition, Microchip also partners with universities and start-ups.

We believe it is essential to work with partners that understand how to avoid over-engineering a design, to reduce costs without compromising reliability. That comes from having a wide range of products with multiple levels of qualification to tackle the complex trade-offs of availability, cost and lifetime across many different applications, and comes from those decades of Microchip’s flight heritage.

www.microchip.com