Outgassing Kinetics Testing of Spacecraft Materials

Solid materials contain impurities from manufacturing/cleaning processes which diffuse (out‐gas) to the exterior during exposure to vacuum, especially at elevated temperature levels. Materials like plastics and resins tend to disintegrate under space conditions. In addition to the above mentioned diffusion process, contaminants adsorbed and absorbed from the environment encountered previously, e.g. during manufacturing, cleaning, integration, test and launch phases, might be desorbed from the surfaces. The released products represent a permanent source of potential contamination. This paper provides an overview of a research program carried out at the Austrian Research Centers Seibersdorf (ARCS), Aerospace Materials Technology Testhouse (AMTT), by means of the AMTT Sublimation Test Facility to acquire in‐depth knowledge of the outgassing kinetics characteristics of a set of non‐metallic materials, selected by Alenia on the basis of their usage on the International Space Station (ISS) and Scientific Satellites.