Overview of European activities

Alcatel Alenia Space, Cannes – FranceThe recent technological breakthrough in the area of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems(MEMS) have reached the stage where the MEMS rate sensors now present an undeniableinterest for use in space. However, in spite of their small size, low mass, low power and lowrecurring cost, together with their inherent immunity from shock and environmentalvibration and the lack of a wear out mechanism, the terrestrial off -the -shelf M EMS sensors,currently used for automotive applications, still require major technical adaptations to besuitable for space applications. Various design improvements to enhance the detectorperformance and to make the terrestrial electronics robust with re spect to spaceenvironment, e.g. high radiation environment, are required. Recently, a series of feasibilityassessments showed that it is now feasible to develop a very low -mass, low -power and low -recurrent cost three -axis rate measurement sensor for spac e use based on terrestrial MEMStechnology. It has also been shown that there exists a large demand for such a unit in theworld space market, including telecom satellite applications. This paper describes the resultsof several recent ESA -funded market an alyses and feasibility studies. Reliability andcharacterization testing of MEMS gyroscopes have also been completed . The paper alsogives the status of the recently initiated development of a European MEMS rate sensor forspace applications.