Sofradir of Paris, France, which makes cooled infrared detectors based on mercury cadmium telluride (MCT/HgCdTe) for military, space and commercial applications, has been awarded a 2.5 year infrared detector contract by ISRO/SAC, the Indian Space Research Organization's Space Applications Center in Ahmedabad. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.
Under the contract, Sofradir will develop large-format infrared detector prototypes for testing and will deliver numerous flight models.
"We are proud to become a supplier to the Indian Space Research Organization, a major player in the space community," says chairman & CEO Philippe Bensussan. "This is Sofradir's first contract for flight models with the Space Applications Center. Foremost, it is the outcome of several years' close cooperation with the IR team at SAC that included delivering IR detectors for ground testing. It is also a result of our growing reputation as a reliable supplier of technically innovative IR detectors that have proven robust performance in space".
ISRO/SAC will receive flight models of Sofradir's best-selling IR detector for space applications, the large format 1000x256 Saturn SWIR (short-wave infrared). ISRO/SAC will use Saturn SWIR for future projects within the scope of India's hyperspectral Earth observation satellite developments.
Compared to Sofradir's Saturn SWIR detectors currently deployed in space instruments, such as PRISMA and TROPOMI, Sofradir will integrate two new features for added performance on top of Saturn SWIR's space proven configuration. The first consists of a new long-life high-power active cooler. This longer-life cooler has been designed to extend the operating lifetime of Saturn SWIR from one to four years, as a single robust element. The second innovation involves an integrated custom optical filter that significantly reduces the complexity of optics located in front of the detector, says the firm.
