“Radiation-Hardened Electronics Market was valued at USD 1.4 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach USD 1.7 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 3.5% during the forecast period (2020–2026). The growing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations globally, the increase in number of space missions, and growing demand for rad-hard electronics in the commercial satellite industry are factors driving the growth of the rad-hard electronics market.
Major players in the market are:BAE Systems (UK), STMicroelectronics (Switzerland), Microchip technology (US), Renesas Electronics (Japan), Honeywell Aerospace & Defense (US).
The COVID-19 crisis has led to global health and economic pandemic. This has resulted in a number of businesses shutting down their manufacturing plants and halting most of their operations. During this crisis, the main objective of companies is to sustain their businesses by finding safe ways to continue their manufacturing operations or explore other sustainable ways to get their revenue streams flowing. The demand for radiation-hardened electronics was increasing steadily in the pre-COVID-19 scenario. With tensions in China-US trade, the immediate impact of COVID-19 can be easily observed on the imports of radiation-hardened electronics in the US. The US and Europe are key importers of semiconductor components. The high import tariffs on radiation-hardened electronic components in these geographies, together with disruptions in their supply chain, are negatively impacting the manufacturers of radiation-hardened electronics based in the US and Europe. This could result in a supply-demand imbalance, resulting in a negative impact on the growth of the market. However, the market is expected to recover slowly in the next 2 years and will grow at a CAGR of 3.5% from 2020 to 2026.
Power Management, by Component type held the largest share in the global Radiation-Hardened Electronics Market in 2019
The power management has been a major segment in the radiation-hardened electronics market. The growth of the power management segment is primarily attributed to the increasing need for MOSFETs and diodes for high-end applications in the space and defense industries. The power management components, such as power switches and metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFETs), accounted for a major share of ~40% of the global radiation-hardened electronics market in 2019. Power MOSFETs are used in high-reliability requirements and designed for the outer space requirements. These have excellent durability against high-energy-charged particles and ionizing radiation. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of the power management segment is slightly impacted but is expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period among the other components.
Radiation Hardening by Design (RHBD) Manufacturing Technique is expected to grow at a higher CAGR during the forecast period
The radiation hardening by design (RHBD) segment is expected to grow at the highest rate in the radiation-hardened electronics market attributed to the low cost per chip, high volume of production, and ease of modification. The RHBD memories, microcontrollers, and ASICs are mostly used in the defense and space industries as well as nuclear power plants. The market for RHBD designs is accentuated during COVID-19 because RHBD allows easy modifications by various government programs depending on the intended applications. Though radiation hardening by process (RHBP) is an effective approach for the manufacturing of radiation-hardened electronics systems, its adoption rate among the microelectronics manufacturers is less mainly because of the low profits, process uncertainties, and the high cost of manufacturing.
North America accounted for the largest share of the global radiation-hardened electronics market.
The growth in North America is attributed to the large presence of leading companies such as Honeywell Aerospace & Defense (US), Microchip Technology (US), and Xilinx, Inc. (US) and renowned space research institutes such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), and Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS). Most of the rad-hard components (nearly 50%) are supplied by the US to several parts of the world, and despite the stagnant economic growth and DoD budget costs, the demand for radiation-hardened electronics products is expected to remain high owing to various space missions and military operations being conducted worldwide. On the other hand, Europe is also expected to represent promising opportunities for the rad-hard component manufacturers during the forecast period. The market in APAC is expected to register the highest CAGR in the rad-hard market. With cutting-edge manufacturing technological abilities and improving economic conditions in China, India, and Japan, the region is expected to witness high growth in the coming years.
