Mar 6 2010
On 4th March 2010, e2v charged coupled device (CCD) imaging sensors were launched into space by NASA from Cape Canaveral, Florida onboard a Delta IV rocket, carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-P (GOES-P).
GOES-P is the third and final spacecraft to be launched in the GOES N series of geostationary environmental weather satellites. Built by The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], the N-P series of satellites are designed to improve predictions regarding hurricanes, flash floods and severe storm warnings, and to help track global climate change. In addition to weather forecasting on Earth, the Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) instrument on GOES-P will also help to monitor solar conditions that affect Earth by utilising its telescope assembly, which monitors the sun’s x-ray emissions. Forecasts of the effects of solar disturbances such as solar flares and charged particle clouds, will reduce damage to satellite–based electronics and communications, and reduce the consequences of resultant power surges.
e2v supplied 20 flight model and 20 engineering model CCDs for the SXI instruments on GOES-N, O and P. The instruments were designed and built at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California. e2v worked closely with University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) and Lockheed on the design, characterisation and supply of the e2v CCD64 imaging sensors for this programme, which were supplied in a custom package.
The e2v CCDs have an image area of 512(h) x 580(v) pixels; each pixel is 16.0 µm square. The devices are back-illuminated to an optimised device thickness, in order to achieve the maximum x-ray mean charge capture performance of the devices.
e2v’s performance in support of the SXI programme was recognised by Lockheed, who presented e2v (and MSSL) with a ‘superior performance’ award. The new CCD package design concept for GOES-N-P has since become a standard that was repeated on the Focal Plane Package for Solar-B and more recently the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Jon Kemp, General Manager of Space & Defence Imaging at e2v said “e2v is proud to have played an enabling part in such an advanced next generation weather satellite, which will serve the US and other areas of the world. We look forward to working with Boeing, Lockheed and MSSL on similar space programmes in the near future.”
Source: http://www.e2v.com/