Desp : Space Environment Department

摘要

The Space Environment Department (DESP) has a highly pluridisciplinary field of research that is continuously changing with the emergence of new missions (average GPS type orbits, longer durations, and so forth) and new technologies (new materials or components, enhanced solar generator power, nanotechnologies, etc.). Research is organized around three themes: 1. modeling the space environment: these are essentially physical models of the radiation belts, but also engineering models to estimate the flows of charged particles, microme-teorites, and debris; 2. satellite coupling with its environment: this involves the study and laboratory simulation of charge and discharge phenomena in space vehicles, as well as contaminant creation, transport, and fixation mechanisms in orbit; 3. effects of the environment on electronics and materials: this aims at understanding the degradation mechanisms in the orbital and interplanetary space environment, and the development of predictive codes for the effects and adapted simulation tests in the laboratory.