Space optronics

High resolution focal plane resolution

Designed to meet the goal of increasing resolution, PLEIADES brings together the latest advanced technologies: Time Delay Integration (TDI), strip filters, structures and SiC (Silicon Carbide) mirrors. The use of 10 large CCD detectors in a very compact volume while supporting high thermal power is one of the main features of Pleiades with panchromatic detection and 4 spectral bands and the high resolution it offers: 30,000 pixels in panchromatic mode (PAN) and 7,500 pixels in color mode (XS).

High resolution focal plane resolution

Thanks to the two specific detection units DTA11 that equip the high-resolution stereoscopic instrument (HRS), the SPOT5 satellite has the capability to successively capture images forward and backward during its movement. Each detection unit consists of a single 12,000-pixel CCD detector and its analog electronics.

Main subassembly required for the implementation of very high resolution focal planes, the detection module allows the simultaneous capture of images at the front and at the back during the movement of the satellite. As a very high-tech element, it illustrates Sodern’s skills and know-how in:

• Sensor specifications and implementations,
• Cleanliness management,
• Delicate sets,
• Qualified bonding processes for space,
• Optics and strip filters
• Design and implementation of SiC (Silicon Carbide)
• Electronic Video

Strip filters are one of Sodern’s flagship technologies for high-performance Earth-observation instruments. Designed to be assembled on detectors to form a multi-spectral detection module, strip filters offer high radiometric and spectral performance, high flexibility (design, spectral characteristics, number of channels) and high precision assembly.

• MCP // TARANIS
  Developed for CNES’s TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of Radiations from LightNings and Sprites) micro-satellite, Sodern’s MicroCameras and Photometer (MCP) are dedicated to the spatial description of Transient Light Phenomena. They are able to differentiate sprite and lightning through two narrow strips – [757-767 nm] and [772-782 nm] – that provide simultaneous pairs of images of an event.

• CIM01 // IASI
  Thermal infrared camera based on an uncooled micro-bolometer, CIM01 allows the camera to present very beneficial characteristics in terms of mass, power, volume and cost compared to traditional cooled cameras. This camera is embedded inside the IASI probe flying aboard the Eumetsat MetOp satellites since 2006.

• IIR // CALIPSO
  The Infrared Imaging Radiometer (IIR) demonstrates the easy adaptation of the CIM01 camera for various applications, mainly due to its modular optics. This IIR instrument was developed for the joint CNES-NASA CALIPSO mission. At the heart of the IIR is the uncooled camera which takes successive images in 3 spectral bands from 8.5 to 12.4 μm, the selection of which is carried out with a filter wheel.

Rendez-vous sensors

The VDM was the key sensor guiding the automatic approach and stowage of the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to the International Space Station (ISS). The VDM allowed the first three ATVs to be stowed: Jules Verne in April 2008, Johannes Kepler in February 2011 and Edoardo Amaldi in October 2012.

As part of the Horizon 2020 European Research and Innovation program, Sodern is developing the optical switches that will be installed on the photonic communication satellite demonstrator by the end of 2018.