EarthCARE satellite fitted with Teledyne Space Imaging instrumentation

May 9, 2024 - 12:51 pm

UK imaging sensor manufacturer Teledyne Space Imaging has provided key imaging and sensor equipment for the EarthCARE satellite, an advanced climate monitoring project set to be launched into space this May.

The EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer) venture is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aiming to bolster our understanding of the role aerosols and clouds play in Earth’s climate system. Teledyne Space Imaging’s custom technology includes a LIDAR instrument with a high-spectral resolution receiver and depolarisation channel, optimised imaging sensors, and high temporal resolution. Signals will be combined into a single pixel for each atmospheric layer.

Gabriella Druitt, director of engineering at Teledyne Space Imaging, explained: “Our sensor technology will help the ESA and JAZA EarthCARE satellite deliver crucial insights, not only into how aerosols, clouds and precipitation influence the impact and effect of solar and infrared radiation on the planet, but what this could mean for how we tackle climate change”.

The EarthCARE satellite was designed and manufactured by a consortium of more than 75 companies working under prime contractor, Airbus. It will launch from the Vandenburg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this month, after which it will orbit 400km above the surface of the Earth “in order to get as close as currently possible to the aerosols and thin clouds that are of particular interest”.
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