Juice Monitoring Camera

JUICE (image ESA)

 

 

The Explorer (JUICE) programme is a European Space Agency mission set to explore Jupiters icy moons, and will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system and their inter-actions and complexities, with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. Jupiter is the archetype for giant planets in the Solar System, and for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars. Moreover, Jupiter's diverse Galilean satellites - three of which are believed to harbour internal oceans - are central to our understanding of the potential habitability of icy worlds. Understanding the Jovian system and unravelling its history, from its origin to the possible emergence of habitable environments, will give us a better insight into how gas giant planets and their satellites form and evolve.

ALTER TECHNOLOGY has been granted a project for JUICE Monitoring Camera from Micro-Camera & Space-Exploration. The project consists of two main parts: packaging of the custom image sensor. This activity is performed by our OPTOCAP facility in Scotland, and then the screening and qualification of the image sensors and overall system performed by ATN in Madrid.

The challenges are both technical and schedule related to address the complexity of the image sensor packaging as well as completing the evaluation to meet the space environmental application within the time constraints of the JUICE mission. In selecting ALTER TECHNOLOGY GROUP for this project it is recognition of the extensive and diverse quality capabilities in packaging, screening, and qualifications testing within the group and the growing confidence from the customers side in our ability to succeed in the development in the field of image sensor characterization and evaluation for space applications.