// ORBITAL LOGISTICS AND PROPULSION TERM
Redundancy
The inclusion of extra components or systems that can take over if a primary component fails, ensuring continued operation. It's a key design principle for reliability.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
Redundancy is a design principle in spacecraft engineering where duplicate or alternative components, subsystems, or functions are incorporated to provide backup capability, enhance reliability, and ensure mission success in the event of a primary system failure.
BACKGROUND
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company, in 1999 to form BAE Systems.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Backup
- Duplication
- Fault Tolerance
- Fail-safe
- Spare
USAGE NOTE
Critical systems on spacecraft often have triple redundancy.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Redundancy.
Designs launch vehicles and spacecraft with inherent redundancy. The Falcon 9 rocket's nine-engine configuration provides engine-out capability, and the Dragon spacecraft features redundant flight computers, parachutes, and thruster systems to ensure crew safety and mission success.
JPL designs robotic spacecraft for long-duration missions where repair is impossible, necessitating extreme redundancy. Mars rovers like Perseverance are built with dual redundant main computers (Rover Compute Element) and backup systems for mobility and instrumentation, allowing them to switch to a backup in case of a critical failure.
As the prime contractor for NASA's Orion spacecraft, the company engineers highly redundant systems for deep-space human exploration. Orion features multiple layers of redundancy in its life support, navigation, power, and propulsion systems to ensure astronaut safety far from Earth.
Develops and manufactures radiation-hardened (rad-hard) electronics and single-board computers, such as the RAD5545. These components are the foundation for creating redundant, fault-tolerant flight control systems that can withstand the space environment and are used in hundreds of spacecraft.
A major supplier of avionics, inertial measurement units (IMUs), and reaction wheels. Honeywell develops fault-tolerant flight control and guidance systems designed with multiple hardware and software redundancies to ensure high reliability for satellites, launch vehicles, and crewed spacecraft.
Develops complex aerospace systems where redundancy is a core safety principle. Its CST-100 Starliner crew capsule is equipped with redundant avionics, propulsion, and life support systems to meet NASA's stringent safety requirements for transporting astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
A major European manufacturer of satellites, launch vehicles, and orbital systems that rely on redundancy for mission assurance. Their spacecraft platforms and the Ariane launch vehicle family incorporate redundant critical subsystems to achieve high levels of reliability for commercial and government clients.
Specializes in critical aerospace subsystems, including environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) and spacesuits. The company engineers these systems with multiple backup components, oxygen supplies, and failure-mitigation technologies to protect astronauts in space.