High Voltage Insulation Space Environment and Design Guideline

Electrical insulation research and development for space power systems have been continuing progressively for manned and unmanned space and aerospace vehicles. Initial studies and test evaluations started in the 1950s and have been continuing with the evolving state of high voltage systems and their increasing use in space programs. In the early days of the space program, electrical systems were largely based on the 28 volt standard. As systems grew larger and more complex, the introduction of high voltage components and systems led to design issues involving electrical breakdown. As experience accumulated within industry and government, attempts were made to capture it with various design guidelines. One such effort, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), began the development of a suitable guidelines document in the early 1970´s. Originally issued as 50 M05189b, October 1972, it was upgraded to a MSFC standard and reissued as MSFC-STD-531 in September 1978. By the late 1990s it was clear that STD-531 needed considerable revision to capture experience gained in the two decades since its issue. This document has served as the basis for several derived works that became focused, program-specific HV guidelines previously. This paper is an overview of space environments, space environmental effects/interactions, and high-voltage electrical/electronic design techniques required to specify and apply electrical insulation to spacecraft high-voltage parts, components and systems