TechnicalSEU
Single-Event Upset
A change of state in electronics caused by a single energetic particle strike — typically a recoverable bit flip rather than permanent damage.
A single-event upset occurs when an energetic particle deposits enough charge in a microelectronic device to flip a memory bit or disrupt a logic state. SEUs are usually soft errors that can be corrected, but they can cause anomalies if unmanaged.
Mitigations include error-detection-and-correction codes, redundancy, watchdog timers, and radiation-hardened parts. SEU rates rise during space weather events, linking spacecraft resilience to the radiation environment.