Future radiation testing: Adapt or fail

Radiation testing of active electronic and active as well as passive photonic devices is a major challenge for nearly all space applications. Methods were developed and standards defined, leading to an accepted way to qualify components for a reliable operation under space radiation conditions. However, many new aspects with respect to space radiation appeared that can potentially overturn decades of ""best practice"" and existing standard procedures. We may need to define radically new approaches, because in several cases traditional testing methods might or will fail or will not be applicable. Three major radiation effect types in electronic and photonic devices exist: total ionizing dose damage, displacement or non-ionizing dose damage, and effects induced by single particles hitting a sensitive volume.