The giotto power supply subsystem

The Giotto mission profile imposes peculiar constraints on the design of the spacecraft as well as on the design of the power subsystem. The Giotto PSiS is highly advanced both for the control concepts adopted and for the state-of-the-art components used. The overall subsystem reliability has been the other key design parameter. This paper describes the power subsystem configuration and the design criteria which have been adopted to satisfy the various requirements. The main test results, the problems encountered and the approach to their solution are also presented.