e2v, a provider of high-performance imaging solutions, has signed two contracts worth a total of €4m with Thales Alenia Space for the supply of imaging sensors to equip optical imaging instruments for Thales' Earth observation satellites.
The first contract is for Göktürk, an Earth observation satellite system for the Turkish Ministry of Defence. It is derived from the Proteus platform (also developed by Thales Alenia Space) and will include a high-resolution optical instrument, similar to that used in the Pleiades programme. The satellite launch is planned for 2013.
The second contract is for Seosat-Ingenio, the first Spanish Earth observation satellite and the first to be built by a consortium of industries from the Spanish space sector. This satellite system will meet a growing need for data and provide Spain with full autonomy and independence in image capture for applications such as security land management, natural resource management, and to help with the response to natural catastrophes.
e2v has a strong heritage in providing imaging solutions to the global space market, utilising cutting edge technologies to deliver space qualified back-thinned devices with superb quantum efficiency (QE) and modulation transfer function (MTF) performance.
The sensors will be delivered over a two year period from July 2011.
