Abstract. Space applications need materials with better properties that are able to replace traditional materials used in space or to find entirely new materials. Two classes of such materials are HT_c superconducting materials and carbon based materials. Both are very attractive for space application. However, in the space there are strong requirements for reliability, which every new material should fulfill in space. SQUIDs with oxygen - ion modified weak links, which we proposed and developed, were the first electronic device based on high-T_c superconductivity tested in space [1]. On September 12, 1993, the German satellite ASTROSPAS was launched on the board of the Space Shuttle Discovery, Flight STS-51. The satellite included the SESAM experiment, developed by DFLR in Braunschweig, Germany, to investigate surface effects. One of the 20 SESAM samples was a chip with 16 high-T_c RF SQUIDs made by oxygen ion modification. During the 10 days flight the SQUID chip was exposed to the open space environment. No changes were observed after the space mission.
Now we prepare a project for the ESA SURE Announcement of Opportunity "Space application reliability of diamond - like carbon films",where we plan to send samples of diamond-like carbon films in space, to expose them to the open space conditions and to study their properties after the return on Earth.

[1] M. Klinger, J.H. Hinken and S.S. Tinchev 1995, IEEE Trans. Appl. Superconductivity, 5, No. 2, 2759, (First space test of high-T_c SQUIDs).

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