£1M research grant to develop a small, light camera for Earth observation

OU researchers have been awarded a £1M research grant by the UK Space agency to develop a new prototype camera to observe the Earth from Space.

The camera, which is being developed by The Centre for Electronic Imaging (CEI) at the OU, together with Teledyne e2v (Chelmsford, UK) and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) (Guildford, UK), will be small, light and energy efficient.

OU CEI lead for the project, Senior Research Fellow, Dr Konstantin Stefanov said; “Our project aims to produce a “high TRL” engineering model. The model will be essentially a prototype camera built with space-qualified components, which will be very close to an actual camera to be used in an Earth observation satellite. Should Surrey Satellite Technology Limited get an order for one, they will be able to make a satellite with space-ready camera on board fairly quickly.”

The CEI’s role is to build the flight electronics in close partnership with SSTL, and to perform full electro-optical and radiation characterisation of the sensor. The result will be an engineering model of an Earth observation camera integrated with SSTL's newest optical telescope that could be further developed to a flight model for a future technology demonstration mission.

“This is a very exciting project for the CEI, and is our first collaboration with SSTL, a world-leading manufacturer of small satellites,” said Dr Stefanov. “The development of the sensor flight electronics is expected to bring in new know-how and increase the capabilities of the CEI in the areas of space instrumentation and Earth observation.”

The project started in March 2018 and should be completed in 18 months.