Plenary Sessions
The Power System of the Artemis Program. Reliability Challenges in Crewed Flights
📍 Sala Asturias | 🗓️ Thursday, July 9 🕒 TBD
Arturo Fernández
(IEEE SM’98) received his Master’s and PhD degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Oviedo in 1997 and 2000, respectively. He began his academic career at the University of Oviedo as an associate professor in 1998, becoming a tenured professor in 2003.
In 2007, he joined the European Space Agency (ESA) as a power conversion engineer, focusing his research on the development of power electronics for space missions.
In 2015, he was appointed Head of the Power Management and Distribution Section at ESA, where he coordinated technology roadmaps for power conversion and led development programs for satellite power systems.
In 2025, he became Head of the Power Systems, Electromagnetic Compatibility and Space Environments Division, overseeing R&D activities in solar generators, energy storage, electromagnetic compatibility, and space environment effects.
His research interests include high-efficiency switched-mode power supplies, DC/DC converters, converter modeling, and advanced power systems for space applications. He is the author of more than 100 publications in the field.
The talk focuses on the power system of the Artemis program and the lessons learned during the Moon missions carried out in 2023 and 2026.
The development of power systems for crewed spacecraft is a complex task, where development duration and variability of in-flight configurations significantly affect the energy balance. The high redundancy required to ensure reliability also introduces significant design challenges.
In this context, simple, scalable, and flexible systems emerge as the best option. Telemetry and control capabilities play a key role, with data availability and frequency being critical aspects for future missions.
Finally, the concept of system-level redundancy will be addressed as a more viable alternative to classical double-fault tolerance, highlighting architectures with multiple interconnectable buses for high-reliability missions.