This discipline covers all electronic systems aboard a launch vehicle or satellite, including navigation, communication, flight control, and power management. These components must be heavily shielded and radiation-hardened to survive the extreme temperatures, vacuum, and cosmic rays of space. It is the spaceflight equivalent of aviation's avionics.
Heard on the job
The astrionics package had to be completely redesigned after radiation testing fried the primary memory banks.
Do not mix it up with
- Avionics: Avionics refers to electronics for aircraft operating in the atmosphere, while astrionics refers specifically to electronics for spacecraft.