DECEMBER 2025AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM9same operational availability as their terrestrial counterparts, just in space. While RHBD chips can be expensive due to high non-recurring engineering costs associated with design and fabrication, those costs are bounded by using standard fabrication flows. RHBD is a vital component of the space ecosystem for various environments, such as interplanetary, cislunar, geosynchronous Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit and even higher low Earth orbit (LEO) above 900 km. In fact, it's these environments that continue to drive the development of RHBD chips today.With the pivot to lower LEO (below 650 km), proliferated constellation operators are experimenting with commercial electronics in space to meet cost targets. The argument is that "the architecture" will provide redundancy through numbers so that any individual satellite can be in the process of reset and recovery while the system provides space-enabled capability through another satellite. This may be true for a massive constellation such as Starlink (>5000 satellites), but the numbers are not sufficiently dense in defense and intelligence missions to guarantee that a sensitive operation won't be interrupted. Defense and intelligence customers require a diverse set of capabilities, including more types of satellites. This means even fewer of the right mission configurations ­ maybe only one ­ will have access to a particular slice of real estate at any one time. This is no time for a reboot!There is another way to approach low LEO that is more relevant for defense and intelligence. New RHBD chips, including RISC-V processors, channelisers, network endpoints and software-defined radios are being developed for the tough environments. Today, we can create circuit card assemblies that deliver "always on" levels of availability by using RHBD devices at the most critical points of a system and surrounding them with automotive and aviation-grade commercial components. Instead of falling back to availability at the "architectural" level, or by "testing assurance into" an inherently susceptible system, this Graded Mission Assurance approach guarantees availability by hardening the most critical elements in the system. And it does so at a price that is affordable for proliferation.So, it is true that there are a lot of changes in space. It is wonderful to see so much innovation, inspiration and invention. Defense and intelligence space missions are evolving at a rate not seen since the 1970s. However, at the end of the day, operational availability never goes out of style. And at the core of any space system that is "always on" lie RHBD microelectronics. TODAY, WE CAN CREATE CIRCUIT CARD ASSEMBLIES THAT DELIVER "ALWAYS ON" LEVELS OF AVAILABILITY BY USING RHBD DEVICES AT THE MOST CRITICAL POINTS OF A SYSTEM AND SURROUNDING THEM WITH AUTOMOTIVE AND AVIATION-GRADE COMMERCIAL COMPONENTS.
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