Sofradir Supplies Infrared Detectors

Sofradir of Veurey-Voroize, France, has signed a $4.2 million contract with NEC Toshiba Space Systems Ltd. of Yokohama, Japan, to supply the latter with bispectral long-wave infrared detectors. The custom-designed devices each comprise two mercury-cadmium-telluride focal plane arrays centered at 10.8 and 12 μm. They will be incorporated into a multispectral imaging radiometer, which the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency intends to use to monitor the Earth’s surface and atmosphere on a five-year mission to explore global environmental changes.