Behavior of Dielectrics in a Charging Space Environment and Related Anomalies in Flight

The aim of this paper is to give a brief description of spacecraft structure and their environments. After a brief presentation of the composition of the various space environments that mainly depends on the altitude from earth, a description of the materials used to make and cover spacecraft will be made. Then different dielectric charging modes will be presented for ground testing and for in-space configurations. Electrostatic discharge phenomena will then be presented, illustrated with some spacecraft failures related to Electrostatic Discharge (ESD).