MMIC technology aboard satellites

Fifteen years after their first demonstration, MMIC's are now rapidly conquering the world of space electronics. The driving force behind MMIC development have been miniaturization, cost reduction and higher reliability. MMIC's have first been introduced into GEO Telecommunication satellites with a new generation of compact equipment. After these first convincing demonstrations, MMIC's have now become an absolute necessity for turning into reality future satellites with active antennas, observation radars or future systems such as LEO constellations. The paper presents several major achievements for space programs, discusses about procedures to fly these advanced microelectronics and, finally, reviews some reliability issues which are a concern today for spaceborne MMIC-based equipment.