Safety, Reliability and Failure Analysis of Space Propulsion Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Propulsion is one of the most critical subsystems for the definition of the failure scenarios in spacecraft and space missions. The inherently active role of propulsion in the spacecraft operations and the large number of active components and mechanisms in a typical propulsion system automatically lead to an increased risk of failure and a larger number of possible failure modes. This special issue is intended to collect scientific and technical contributions in the field of propulsion, more specifically on RAMS, with particular attention to safety, failure analysis and reliability prediction aspects. Contributions on (but not limited to) the following topics are welcome:

-) Analysis of the failures experienced by different types of propulsion systems (electric, chemical, cold gas, micro-propulsion etc.), both in flight and during ground qualification, their consequences on the system, the possible corrective actions and their effectiveness.

-) Space propulsion reliability prediction tools based on statistical collections of failure modes or similar techniques.

-) General RAMS practices related to space propulsion.

-) Safety and reliability of small spacecraft (e.g. CubeSats, Small Sats, etc) equipped with propulsion systems.

-) Collision avoidance manoeuvres in the presence of propulsion system failures.

Dr. Angelo Cervone
Dr. Silvana Radu
Guest Editors

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