Infrared detector manufacturer Sofradir has announced that it has been awarded a contract worth tens of millions of euros to provide sensors for Europe's new generation of meteorological satellites.
Sofradir will supply infrared (IR) detectors for the engineering and flight models of the European Space Agency’s six satellites planned for its Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) meteorological constellation. Under the five-year MTG contract Sofradir will deliver to Thales Alenia Space France the custom designed IR detectors. Thales Alenia Space France is the prime contractor for MTG.
Sofradir chairman and chief executive officer Philippe Bensussan said: ‘This is Sofradir’s third major space contract win this year and the largest contract win in Sofradir’s history. This is a significant achievement on top of the record 26 flight model infrared detectors we delivered for space missions in 2010.’
The IR detectors will be integrated into two payloads. They are, the flexible combined imager that will take IR images of clouds and the infrared sounder that will analyse the chemical composition of the atmosphere. They will operate at wavelengths that extend from short wave infrared to very long wave infrared, in order to better identify and measure various types of clouds and chemical elements.
