Teledyne Space Imaging Selected to Build Payload for LISA Space

Teledyne Space Imaging has been awarded the role of prime contractor for the Constellation Acquisition Sensor (CAS) instrument, which will contribute to the European Space Agency (ESA) Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission. The imaging sensor manufacturer will deliver six CIS220 detectors and the control electronics for the international space observation project. Teledyne will work in partnership with Thales Alenia Space in Switzerland, who will be responsible for the optical head.

Teledyne Space Imaging has been named the prime contractor for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission’s Constellation Acquisition Sensor instrument. The company will deliver six CIS220 detectors and the control electronics for the international space observation project. Courtesy of Teledyne Space Imaging.

LISA is a mission led by ESA, in partnership with its member states and NASA. It will be the first space-based observatory dedicated to studying gravitational waves, or ripples in the fabric of space-time, emitted during powerful events such as two black holes coming together and merging into one.

Operationally, the LISA CAS instrument will help establish the interferometric laser links between spacecrafts positioned at the vertices of a triangular constellation and transform them into a single gravitational wave observatory. This will enable the mission to study the formation of compact binary stars and the structure of the Milky Way galaxy, as well as trace the origins and merger history of black holes and probe the rate of expansion of the universe.