Teledyne Space Imaging launches not one but two imaging sensors in sun-synchronous orbit NASA explorer missions

Both missions launch on the same rocket on 28 February 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA.

The PUNCH mission (Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere) is led by Teledyne Space Imaging customer, Southwest Research Institute on behalf of NASA. It is a small explorer mission with four separate satellites flying in constellation in a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit. PUNCH will take pictures of the solar corona from the outermost solar atmosphere through to the inner heliosphere using continuous 3D deep-field imaging. The data will increase understanding about how coronal structures transform into solar wind.

Teledyne Space Imaging in Chelmsford, UK, built the CCD230-82 image sensors for PUNCH by taking existing designs and customizing them to meet highly precise specifications. The sensors were extensively modelled and tested to ensure they can withstand the hostile space environment for the duration of the mission.