Study of degradation of optical properties of solar protective coatings batteries of high-orbital spacecraft under the influence of electrons and protons

The results of experimental studies of the decrease in the transmittance of K-208 glass sam-ples under the influence of electrons and protons with energies from 10 to 50 keV are presented. Irradiation was carried out in a vacuum of 10–4 Pa at particle flux densities in the range from 1010 to 2.5×1011 cm-2s-1. The degradation of the optical properties of the studied samples at low and medium irradiation doses is due to the accumulation of color centers and changes in the structure of their irradiated surface during electrostatic discharges due to the formation of microprotrusions and discharge channels. At high radiation doses, degradation is also associated with a change in the stoi-chiometry of the glass. and from contamination of its surfaces with plasmoids released into the sur-rounding space during discharges. It has been established that the influence of the accumulation of color centers in glasses during electron irradiation with doses corresponding to dose loads during the period of their operation in geostationary orbits does not lead to significant changes in their op-tical properties