Ground Investigation of Sustained Arc Phenomena in Power Cables on ADEOS-II Satellite

Abstract

We investigated the power loss due to the sustained arc between primary satellite power cables. If the multi layer insulation (MLI) film on a satellite is electrically floating, energetic electrons in space will charge this film. We carried out an internal pressure measurement of MLI and ESD test on cable with cracks and wrapped with this film. When the negative voltage on the MLI exceeded -1kV, a trigger arc discharge occurred between the MLI and the cables. Subsequently, a secondary arc discharge occurred between the cables themselves. In the specific condition, this secondary arc caused sustained arc which burned out the cables. The heat caused by arc tracking between the hot and return cables made them burn out. If this phenomenon had occurred in space, the satellite would have suffered great damage.