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LEO (Low Earth Orbit) Satellites

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North American Manufacturing and High Reliability Passive Components with Custom Solutions

Overview

As demand rapidly grows for compact, high-performance RF, microwave,and power electronics components in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite applications, Johanson is strategically positioned to support your mission-critical designs.

With U.S.-based design and manufacturing and in-house MIL-STD testing at our California facility, we provide high-reliability passive components engineered to meet the rigorous requirements of LEO, aerospace, and space-grade systems.

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Applications-to-Products Chart

TYPICAL APPLICATIONS
Solar Arrays ● ● ● ● ● ●
Battery Packs ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Power Control Unit ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Transponders ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
RF Front-End Modules ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Antennas ● ● ● ● ● ●
Software-Defined Radios (SDRs) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Sun Sensors ● ● ● ● ●
Earth Horizon Sensors
Star Trackers ● ● ● ●
Magnetometers ● ● ● ● ●
Gyroscopes ● ● ●
Reaction Wheels ● ● ● ● ● ●
Magnetorquers ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Control Moment Gyros (for larger satellites) ● ● ● ● ● ●
Thrusters (used for both orientation and propulsion) ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Flight Computers / Microcontrollers ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Storage Modules: Solid-state drives (SSDs) or NOR flash ● ● ● ● ●
Heaters (resistive) ● ● ●
Louvers or Heat Switches ● ● ● ●
Radar Systems (e.g. Synthetic Aperture Radar) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Scientific Instruments (e.g. particle detectors, spectrometers) ● ● ● ● ●
IoT Sensors (for smallest constellations) ● ● ●
Data Buses: CAN, RS-422, I2C, or SpaceWire ● ● ● ● ●
GPS Receivers ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Control Electronics for Miniature Propulsion Units ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Watchdog Timers & Reset Circuits ● ●

Don't see your application? Contact our Applications Engineers to customize a solution for your unique design requirements.

Comprehensive Mil-Standard

Testing Groups A, B & C

  • Available as necessary

Electrical & Mechanical Inspections

  • 100% Electrical Testing
  • Cap, DF, IR, DWV, Voltage Breakdown
  • 100% Visual Inspection (Mil 883 Class K or S Options)
  • Full Data on Serialized Units
  • Hot IR Testing
  • Temperature Capacitance Coefficient (TCC)
  • Temperature Voltage Coefficient (TVC)

Analytical Testing

  • Destructive Physical Analysis (DPA)
  • Radiographic Inspection
  • SEM Inspection
  • Solderability Testing
  • Acoustic Microscopy (Sonoscan) Inspection
  • XRF Analysis

RF & Microwave Testing Expertise

  • Vector Network Analyzer Measurements
  • Resonant Line Measurements for ESR at Frequency

Environmental Testing

  • Burn In / Voltage Conditioning
  • Life Testing
  • Class H, K or S Element Evaluation
  • HALT / HASS Testing
  • Humidity Testing
  • Moisture Resistance
  • Resistance to Solder Heat
  • Shear Test / Bond Pull Test
  • Bend Testing
  • Steam Age
  • Temperature Cycling
  • Thermal Shock Testing
  • Shock / Vibration Testing
  • Wire Bond Testing

RESOURCE: Simulation Software and Designer Libraries

Designer Libraries

Avago AppCAD

JTISoft

MLCC Termination Options (Replating of Commercial Products)
Termination Type Barrier to Prevent Solder Leaching RoHS Primary Applications
Ni/Sn Ni Yes All solder applications where RoHS is required. This is Johanson’s standard termination used by the largest number of customers. Most likely to be in stock at Johanson or at Johanson authorized distributors.
Ni/SnPb Ni No Military applications where the lead (Pb) mitigates Tin whisker growth.
Flexterm Ni/Sn Ni Yes Flexible terminations for high physical stress applications.
Flexterm Ni/SnPb Ni No Flexible terminations for high physical stress applications.
Ni/Au Gold Termination Ni Yes Parts are epoxied in place or a mix of solder and epoxy attachment is used. Controlled Au thickness to avoid Gold embrittlement issues when soldering. Premium price.
Cu/Sn (Copper barrier) Cu Yes This non-magnetic termination is best suited for application where very high inductance / magnetic fields are present. Use where RoHS is required. Most common non-magnetic termination.
Cu/SnPb (Copper barrier) Cu No This non-magnetic termination is best suited for application where very high inductance / magnetic fields are present.
PdAg None No No plating - solderable thick film PdAg alloy termination.
PtAg None Yes No plating - solderable thick film PtAg alloy termination. Premium price.
Single Layer Termination Options
Termination Barrier RoHS Notes
TiW/Ni/Au Ni Yes Chip & Au wire where capacitor is soldered in place or a mix of solder and epoxy attachment is used.
TiW/Au None Yes Chip & Au wire where capacitor is epoxy attached. Optimum termination for wirebonding. Cannot solder this chip as substantial leaching will occur.
Lead-Frame Termination Options
Material Nickel Underplate Solderable Notes
Ni None Yes Used in very high-temp applications
Cu/Ni/SnPb Ni No Typically used in military applications
CuSn6 Phosphor Bronze Ni No SnPb plate
Iron-Nickel Alloy Ni Yes Sn plate
Pure Silver Leads None Yes Used in very high power RF. Premium price.

If you have unique requirements or require additional technical information, submit a technical request on our website at: Ask a Question.