scope:

Department of Defense (DoD) policy requires that satellites be protected against natural space and nuclear radiation environments as specified in MIL-STD-3053, Military Standard: Satellite Systems Natural and Nuclear Environment Standard. The types and efficacy of the protection required depend on the satellite mission and the expected radiation and nuclear induced plasma environment. This protection standard establishes hardening performance metrics for the satellite system and verification methods to demonstrate effectiveness of the hardening design to survive in the specified environment. It may also be used to assess hardening designs of existing satellite systems.