Aerospace

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced a complete space-ready reference design for the AMD Versal adaptive system-on-chip (SoC) XQRVC1902. Developed in collaboration with AMD, the ISLVERSALDEMO2Z reference design integrates key radiation-hardened components for power management, including four new and recently released products in an ultra-compact design. These Intersil-brand ICs are specifically…

Mid-range FPGAs and System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGAs have played a major role in moving computer workloads to the network edge. Microchip Technology has helped fuel this transition with its award-winning FPGAs, delivering the first RISC-V-based FPGAs that provide twice the power efficiency of competing mid-range FPGAs — and feature a best-in-class design, operating system, and solutions…

Texas Instruments (TI) announced an expansion in its portfolio of space-grade analog semiconductor products in highly reliable plastic packages for a diverse range of missions. TI developed a new device screening specification called space high-grade in plastic (SHP) for radiation-hardened products and introduced new analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that meet the SHP qualification. TI also introduced…

Designers of spaceflight-qualified systems have a great need to reduce development time, cost, and risk in their systems. Microchip Technology has proposed the concept of starting with commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices, then replacing them with space-qualified, radiation-tolerant (RT) equivalent parts. Now, Microchip is announcing that it has extended its family of COTS-based, RT SuperFlash devices for…

Infineon Technologies announced the availability of the space industry’s first radiation-hardened (rad-hard), serial -nterface Ferroelectric RAM (F-RAM) for extreme environments. The new devices deliver unsurpassed reliability and data retention and are more energy efficient than non-volatile EEPROM and serial NOR Flash devices for space applications. The addition of a QML-V qualified F-RAM to Infineon’s memory…

STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor provider serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is simplifying the design and volume production of the new generation of reliable small, low-cost satellites to deliver services like earth observation and broadband internet from low-earth orbits (LEOs). ST’s new series of radiation-hardened power, analog, and logic ICs in low-cost plastic packages…

In the race to reduce aircraft emissions, developers increasingly are moving toward more efficient designs including electrical systems that replace today’s pneumatics and hydraulics powering everything from on-board alternators to actuators and Auxiliary Power Units (APUs). To enable next-generation aircraft electrical systems, new power conversion technology is required. Microchip Technology has announced its development with…

Space-grade field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) require reliable, high-density, non-volatile memories that contain their boot configurations. To address the growing need for high-reliability memories, Infineon Technologies announced the industry’s first high-density, radiation-tolerant (RadTol) NOR Flash memory products, qualified to MIL-PRF-38535’s QML-V flow (QML-V Equivalent). The QML-V flow is the highest quality standard certification for aerospace-grade ICs.…

Satellite communication systems use complex modulation schemes to achieve the blazingly fast data rates required to deliver video and broadband data. To attain this, they must deliver high RF output power while simultaneously ensuring the signals retain their desired characteristics. The new GMICP2731-10 GaN MMIC power amplifier from Microchip Technology helps meet both of these…

Xilinx, Inc., a provider of adaptive computing, recently announced that its Versal AI Core and Versal Prime series devices are now shipping to customers in full production volumes. Additionally, the third series in the Versal portfolio, Versal Premium, has now shipped to multiple tier-one customers through the company’s early access program. Versal is the industry’s first adaptive compute acceleration…

Infineon Technologies LLC, an Infineon Technologies AG company, has launched its next-generation 144-Mb Quad Data Rate II+ (QDR -II+) SRAM that is certified to the DLA Qualified Manufacturers List Class V (QML-V). QML-V is the highest quality and reliability standard certification for aerospace-grade ICs. This radiation-hardened (rad hard) 144-Mb QDR-II+ SRAM is a unique high-speed…

Our theoretical description of space is the entire observable universe which extends to 13.8 Billion Lightyears (because the universe is 13.8 Billion Years old) through whichever direction we look at it (and is the same from any point of observation in the universe, since the universe is infinite). But, how much have we explored? The furthest distance reached by a machine, the voyager I, is the outskirts of our solar which is a few light hours from earth which it took 35 years to sail in empty space going at an astonishing speed of 1100 Km/sec. Humans, on the other hand have not gone further than the moon (360,000 km away from earth) and are soon planning a trip to mars.

Whoever said “sky is the limit”, was clearly not dreaming big enough as proved by this tremendous pillar of space tourism. The idea was planted in man’s mind when the historic Apollo 11 rocket took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and to the moon inJune, 1969. He immediately grew an obsession to explore space up to a depth which was previously thought inexistent. He then sent the satellite, “voyager” which has now already crossed the boundary of our solar system (entered the oort cloud) late last year, after 35 years of journey. Since then, few people have gone into space to attain the privilege of being called “Astronaut”. To become an astronaut, one has to have outstanding credentials, tons of experienceand rigorous training to adapt to extreme conditions in space.