The multispectral mid-wave infrared (MWIR) camera payload of nanosatellite ERNST

The ERNST mission will demonstrate infrared detection and missile tracking capabilities with a 12U nanosatellite platform. ERNST will be launched into a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. The main payload of ERNST is a multispectral cryogenically-cooled infrared imager that was designed for missile early warning demonstration and measurement of the Earth‘s background radiation in the corresponding spectral range. The spectral sensitivity of the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detector ranges from 2.5 µm to 5.0 µm. Six bandpass filters with a spectral width ranging between 100 and 500 nm are used to subdivide the spectral range of the detector into six narrow spectral ranges. The payload is currently undergoing geometric as well as radiometric calibration. We expect that the images acquired by ERNST during the mission will provide valuable data for early warning research and scientific applications. This paper presents the multispectral MWIR imaging payload of ERNST.