Qualification and screening of electromechanical shutters used onboard satellites for Earth observations

An account is given of the qualification and screening exercise carried out on electromechanical shutters of the television camera system flown on the Indian satellites for Earth observations. A special feature of the exercise was designing the methodology of qualification and screening of the shutters which were available only in commercial quality. The aim was to identify any weaknesses, devise appropriate modifications and screening of the property selected shutters from the available lot, after incorporation of verified modifications. The qualification and screening test programs are described and the results are analyzed.