The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Space Applications Center (SAC; Ahmedabad, India) has awarded Sofradir (Veurey-Voroize, France) a contract to develop large format infrared detectors.
ISRO/SAC will receive flight models of Sofradir's large format Saturn SWIR (ShortWave InfraRed) detector for space applications. In the last four years, Sofradir has delivered ten such flight models to aerospace companies. ISRO/SAC will use Saturn SWIR in future hyperspectral earth observation satellites.
Sofradir will also add new features to the Saturn SWIR's detector. One will be a high-power active cooler designed to extend its operating lifetime from one to four years. The second will be a custom optical filter that reduces the complexity of optics located in front of the detector.
ISRO focuses on building and launching communication satellites for television broadcast and telecommunications, meteorological satellites, as well as remote sensing satellites for managing natural resources.
The value of the contract between the two companies was not disclosed.
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-- Dave Wilson, Senior Editor, Vision Systems Design
