Advanced Detectors and instruments for small satellites

Abstract

This paper presents some approaches to the development of advanced detectors and to miniaturized instrument design which are pursued in the Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration of DLR (the German Aerospace Center). The instrument design approach is demonstrated for a low-weight (3 kg) dual camera system with narrow-angle in-track stereo and wide-angle multispectral features. Each camera has its own signal processor and 0,5G Bit mass memory. The activities for advanced detector development are concentrated on two different kinds of detectors and instrumentations: infrared detector arrays and instruments at wavelengths out to about 240 µm, and superheterodyne receivers in the submillimeter and far-infrared spectral ranges.