Teledyne passes 1,000 space-based imaging sensors with Roman launch

Teledyne Space Imaging crossed a milestone of more than 1,000 scientific imaging sensors in space after NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30 from Kennedy Space Center. The mission expands Teledyne’s footprint on flagship space science and will support studies of dark energy, exoplanets and the evolution of the Universe.

Why it matters: - The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope adds to Teledyne’s installed base in space and lifts the company past 1,000 scientific, space-qualified imaging sensors in orbit. - Roman is designed to probe dark energy, survey exoplanets and broaden astronomical research across the Universe. - The mission also strengthens Teledyne’s role in NASA, ESA and other major science and Earth-observation programs.

What happened: - NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. - Teledyne Space Imaging marked the launch as a milestone for its detector technologies on the flagship astrophysics mission. - Teledyne said more than 1,000 of its scientific imaging sensors are now in space, including sensors on Hubble and James Webb.

The details: - NASA awarded Teledyne a $23 million contract in 2018 to provide 24 flight-quality sensor chip assemblies for Roman, later expanded to 28. - Teledyne said each delivered detector exceeded performance specifications for quantum efficiency, low noise and image persistence. - The detectors also enabled a 20% increase in the instrument’s spectral bandwidth. - For Roman’s Wide Field Instrument, Teledyne supplied H4RG-10 infrared detector arrays that form the mission’s focal plane. - Teledyne described that focal plane as the largest infrared focal plane ever flown in space. - Each H4RG-10 detector has more than 16 million pixels in a 4096 x 4096 format. - Eighteen H4RG-10 detectors form a mosaic of more than 300 million pixels. - NASA selected the unique detector shape for the Roman mission logo. - Teledyne also supplied three CCD311-20 detectors for Roman’s Coronagraph Instrument. - The coronagraph uses masks, deformable mirrors, wavefront sensing and control systems, and electron-multiplying CCD technology to block starlight and reveal faint planetary systems. - The coronagraph technology demonstration is expected to help future missions that could directly image Earth-like planets around nearby stars. - Roman is expected to survey billions of galaxies and observe distant stellar explosions to study dark energy. - The mission will also identify thousands of exoplanets beyond the solar system. - Roman’s field of view is about 200 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared observations. - Roman will also support research on star formation, supermassive black holes, planetary birth environments and objects in the solar system. - Teledyne’s imaging sensors also support Hubble, James Webb, Euclid, ESA’s Sentinel missions, and NOAA’s and NASA’s GOES program. - Teledyne Space Imaging said its space-detector heritage spans more than four decades and more than 250 space projects. - Teledyne Technologies operates primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Western and Northern Europe. - Teledyne said its imaging products and systems serve scientific, commercial and government missions.

Between the lines: - Roman gives Teledyne another marquee reference on a mission with high scientific visibility and long planning horizons. - The company’s role across multiple flagship observatories suggests its detector business is tied to the most technically demanding parts of space science. - The coronagraph payload points to future astronomy goals beyond detection, including direct imaging of planets like Earth.

What's next: - Roman will continue commissioning and science operations focused on dark energy, exoplanets and other astrophysical targets. - Teledyne’s sensors will keep supporting current and future space missions as NASA and other agencies expand their observation programs. - The coronagraph demonstration may inform the design of next-generation missions aimed at directly imaging nearby Earth-like worlds.

The bottom line: - Roman’s launch is both a science milestone for NASA and a scale milestone for Teledyne, pushing the company past 1,000 imaging sensors in space.