E2v to Supply Image Sensors for Gaia Mission

Under a three-year, $17.2 million contract, e2v technologies plc of Chelmsford, UK, will supply the Paris-based European Space Agency with CCD imaging sensors for the primary scientific instrument on its Gaia space mission. This flight-phase contract follows the successful completion of a two-year contract to develop a sensor specifically tailored to the needs of the mission. A subcontractor selected by the agency will assemble the sensors into a large focal plane. The goal of the Gaia project, scheduled for launch in 2011, is to continually scan the sky to create an accurate 3-D map of the Milky Way galaxy.