Optics and Sensors: Infrared Focal Planes and Imaging Payloads
Are the sensors for missile warning, tracking and Earth observation a bottleneck?
Chapter summary
for defence, yes.
Key takeaways
- 1
Missile warning and tracking satellites depend on infrared focal plane arrays, detectors cooled to sense the heat of rocket plumes and warheads, made from materials such as mercury cadmium telluride and specialised semiconductors.
- 2
A small number of firms (in the US, mainly Raytheon, L3Harris, Teledyne, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems) make space-qualified arrays, the materials come from very few sources, and the Golden Dome and SDA tracking programmes multiply demand.
- 3
Optical imaging for commercial Earth observation is less constrained but shares precision optics capacity.
Key figures in this chapter
- 72
- Tranche 3 tracking satellites
- 4 × 18
- primes and satellites each
- ~$3.5B
- combined award value
- A few
- detector houses behind all four
Source: Payload; DefenseScoop; Air & Space Forces
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