UK based XCAM Ltd, world leaders in specialist digital camera systems, have jointly been awarded grant funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) via its International Bilateral Fund (IBF) – Phase 1.

The funded project is being led by the Open University (OU) working with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to support the development of X-ray instrumentation for the DISHA mission to study space weather. XCAM as a key partner, will play a vital role in defining a preliminary camera system concept based around the CIS221-X; a novel X-ray detector designed jointly by The Open University and Teledyne e2v and manufactured by Teledyne e2v. In addition to the technical contributions, XCAM will also be evaluating the return on investment to the UKSA for the next phase of development.

This grant funds the initial development of the project, potentially leading on to Phase 2 which could see a further 1.5m in funding next year.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, said, “We are delighted to have been awarded this valuable grant funding and to play a significant part in strengthening the UK space sector’s partnerships with strategic and emerging space nations. This funding supports an international collaboration for the initial development of the Auroral X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (AXIS) instrument intended to fly on DISHA, the Disturbed and quiet time Ionospheric-thermosphere System at High Altitudes mission.”

Karen continued, “This activity builds on our new versatile and high-performance ‘Nuscis’ camera system for space imaging applications, that is already being adopted for a number of different space missions including ‘WindCube’, a NASA-funded space weather mission due for launch in 2024. Supporting a number of different high-performance imaging sensors enables ‘Nuscis’ to be easily adapted to different instruments such as the AXIS instrument for this project.”

The current funded activity will strengthen the collaboration between the UK parties and ISRO and will prepare a proposal for the full development of the AXIS instrument with a proposed UK contribution in the sensor, detector electronics, detector physics and X-ray science. If successful, Phase 2 will start in 2024 with an aim to complete the UK instrument contribution by 2026.

XCAM will also be supporting another IBF fund project, also led by the Open University, to support the development of a Mars imager concept using the CIS125 detector also manufactured by Teledyne e2v. This will draw on the extensive work already conducted by XCAM on the CIS125 for the TreeView mission.

The UK Space Agency £20 million International Bilateral Fund (IBF) is to support international partnerships that will harness the United Kingdom’s national strengths, support new space capabilities and catalyse investment. Up to £2 million will initially be available from the IBF to help strengthen the space sector’s partnerships with other space nations, with further funding to be made available over the next two years.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pioneering-worldwide-space-partnerships-to-boost-uk-innovation

The Disturbed and quiet time Ionosphere-thermosphere System at High Altitudes (DISHA) is a proposed twin satellite aeronomy mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation. It will study the effects of space weather events on the uppermost layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

UK based XCAM Ltd, leaders in specialist digital camera systems, has announced a collaboration with UCAR (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) to produce a high-quality scientific space system, to observe and record global thermospheric winds that impact radio and GPS. This space mission (WindCube) will be the first time a wind measuring interferometer will be carried on a small CubeSat and will help scientists to improve models of the upper atmosphere and, ultimately better predict impacts to communication systems and satellites.

The WindCube mission, due to launch in 2024, is part of one of the NASA funded H-FORT (Heliophysics Flight Opportunities for Research and Technology) missions and will see XCAM provide an advanced imaging camera system. This camera will be integrated with UCAR’s Fabry-Perot interferometry technology, to fit into a shoebox sized ‘CubeSat’ satellite. At the heart of the camera system is XCAM’s new ‘Nuscis’ SmallSat and CubeSat-compatible space imager enhanced, for WindCube, with additional modular components enabling the imager to utilise a sensitive Electron Multiplying CCD sensor and control the temperature the sensor operates at.

WindCube will operate for around 12 months in low earth orbit (LEO) providing data to study the influence of thermospheric winds heated intensely by the Sun on the Earth’s ionosphere. Previously measurements were taken from the ground with limitations or from large and expensive orbiting platforms. These new space-based measurements from a low-cost small satellite platform, will significantly enhance understanding of this important interaction in the upper atmosphere.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, said, “We are delighted to be working with UCAR on this unique and valuable mission. Our specialist digital cameras have a worldwide reputation for excellence and to see them being used in this way makes us very proud. Our experience in developing low power, low price point, small form factor CubeSat cameras with proven spaceflight heritage is paying dividends and good news for the future, as we develop the Nuscis system to sell worldwide into different space applications for earth observation, remote sensing, space situational awareness, rendezvous and docking and in-orbit servicing.”

Scott Sewell, Engineering Group Manager at UCAR’s High Altitude Observatory (HAO) and Principle Investigator (PI) of the WindCube mission, added, “The WindCube mission will generate global maps of thermospheric winds by measuring the Doppler shifts of visible light emitted by atomic oxygen within a CubeSat form factor. In order to measure the very weak signals produced by the payload’s Fabry-Perot imager, the camera system is a critical element.”  

Award-winning XCAM, designs and manufactures highly specialised complex digital camera systems for challenging scientific, industrial, environmental and space applications. They are one of only a few companies in the world to offer complete bespoke imaging sensor camera solutions. XCAM have a worldwide reputation for their ability, reputation, expertise, and outstanding knowledge in the field.

UCAR is a non-profit consortium of 122 North American colleges and universities focused on research and training in Earth system science. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research on behalf of the National Science Foundation. Read more about the WindCube initiative here: https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/windcube

Following an 8-year technical development programme in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), UK based XCAM Ltd, leaders in specialist digital camera systems, are delighted to announce significant further funding from ESA for the manufacture of its Space Particle Fall Out (PFO) Monitor. Due to be ready to launch into space inside a rocket launch vehicle fairing in the summer of 2025 the Space PFO will be the first instrument to measure particulate contamination inside a rocket fairing during, and shortly after launch.

Launch vehicles and their enclosed satellite payloads experience significant degrees of mechanical and acoustic shock and vibration during their short journey into space. Nothing is currently known about the sources and types of particulate contamination inside a rocket fairing during launch, however, it is certain that contamination can seriously affect the performance, accuracy and reliability of the multi-million dollar instruments which are routinely sent into space to study our planet and explore the universe.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, explained, “We are grateful to ESA for their continued support over the last 8 years in the development, manufacturing and testing of prototypes, of this unique instrument. This next tranche of funding takes us to our final launch goal and we are delighted that ESA have the confidence that XCAM can continue to lead the way on these difficult and complex technology development programmes and deliver to their exacting quality standards.”

The Space PFO Monitor is a complex instrument that provides a remote, automated, real-time method of detecting particulate contamination down to the five-micron level in a rocket fairing during and shortly after launch, and will provide valuable data to demonstrate whether or not precious cargos, such as Earth-observing satellites, stay clean on their way into space. It is designed to withstand the varying vibration, shock, acoustic, pressure, temperature and humidity environments experienced during launch and can be deployed across a wide range of different launch vehicle families.

“Up to now, the cleanliness levels of ESA missions are carefully controlled during assembly, integration and testing, especially for sensitive payloads like those of Science and Earth monitoring. However, what happens to the satellites in the last days on Earth and once they are on their way to orbit remains a mystery. We are looking forward to having a technology game changer in the field of cleanliness and contamination control that will allow us to monitor, and hopefully improve, the particulate contamination levels during launch” says Riccardo Rampini, head of Materials’ Physics and Chemistry section in ESA/ESTEC and technical officer of this activity.

Following the success developing the space system prototypes, XCAM has also adapted the PFO technology for commercial use, and distributes the PFO 1040 real-time surface particulate contamination monitoring system to cleanrooms and clean assembly plants worldwide. A great example of the spin-out of space-derived technology to the wider world.

Award-winning XCAM, designs and manufactures highly specialized custom and low-volume complex digital camera systems for challenging scientific, environmental and space applications. They are one of only a few companies in the world to offer complete bespoke imaging sensor camera solutions. XCAM have a worldwide reputation for their ability, reputation, expertise, and outstanding knowledge in the field.

Find out more here: Space PFO

UK based XCAM Ltd, leaders in specialist digital camera systems, has delivered an advanced digital camera to Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in the USA, as part of a multi-million-dollar NASA space technology project that will see the system launched into space on a sub-orbital sounding rocket as part of the OGRE mission in 2025.

The Off-Plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) aims to increase the technology readiness levels for future space missions of a soft X-ray spectrometer made up of three new space technologies which have not flown in space before.  One of these is the Electron Multiplying CCD camera designed and built by XCAM to capture X-ray photons from the target object; the Capella star system. The other two components include a unique Silicon Grazing Incidence X-ray Mirror, being developed  at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Off-Plane Reflection Gratings using X-ray Diffraction being developed at PSU.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, explained, “Our specialist digital cameras have a worldwide reputation for excellence. We are excited and pleased to have been chosen by  Pennsylvania State University and to be working alongside NASA as part of this new advanced space technology demonstration mission.”

The OGRE mission consists of a 12.2 meter NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket that will carry the three components on a suborbital trajectory into space for about 10 minutes before returning to Earth. During its time in space, it will collect approximately 500 X-ray photons from the Capella star system. The resulting data will be compared with X-ray data from the same star system captured by existing space-based X-ray spectrometers (e.g. NASA’s Chandra observatory). Comparing the data from these different instrument should demonstrate the readiness of these three new technologies for use in future flagship space missions to perform astronomical X-ray measurements.

The EMCCD digital camera system from XCAM was developed in the UK and the OGRE flight will be the first time it will be used in space. The camera system consists of four Teledyne e2v Electron Multiplying CCDs that are able to greatly amplify the signal in each pixel before the pixels are read out (thus increasing the signal-to-noise ratio). The camera will be open to the vacuum of space and cooled to -100ᵒC during flight, and the captured X-ray photon data will be downloaded in real time.

James Tutt, Assistant Research Professor at Pennsylvania State University, commented, “We build a large number of X-ray spectrometers for use on sub-orbital rocket flights. Often we build the majority of the instrument ourselves, but sometimes we collaborate with other institutions or use companies to develop parts of the instrument. Working with XCAM, even though they are a company, has felt more like a collaboration. They have been flexible in working with us through many changes in the camera design, have kept us informed every step of the way in the progress of the camera build (even through a global pandemic), and have delivered the camera system on time.

We never had any concerns with using XCAM as our camera provider due to their excellent reputation in developing complex digital cameras systems for space technology and due to our previous experience working with them on the development of a CCD-based X-ray spectrometry camera.”

XCAM designs and manufactures highly specialized complex digital camera systems for challenging scientific, environmental and space applications. They are one of only a few companies in the world to offer complete imaging sensor camera solutions. XCAM have a worldwide reputation for their ability, reputation, expertise, and outstanding knowledge in the field.

Find out more here: OGRECam

UK based XCAM Ltd, leaders in specialist digital camera systems, has unveiled its next generation of low cost space imaging products as it seeks to support the needs of the growing global space sector. Nuscis is a range of compact SmallSat and CubeSat-compatible space imager products offering un-paralleled flexibility in space imaging systems design.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, explained, “The design ethos behind XCAM Nuscis was to create a modular architecture that enables the widest possible range of applications at a low price point, drawn from many years developing leading-edge imaging systems for space, science and industrial applications. Supporting many different sensor-types means Nuscis can be easily customised to support a whole range of different SmallSat and CubeSat imaging applications including Earth observation, remote sensing, space situational awareness, rendezvous and docking and in-orbit servicing. This makes Nuscis the most versatile space imaging product on the market today.”

At the heart of Nuscis is the Imager Controller Board (ICB) which is itself a complete single-board imaging solution. Supporting several different families of TRL8/9 CMOS imaging sensors, the ICB can operate up to two CMOS sensors in a low-profile PC104 1/4U format and low <5W power footprint. The ICB has on-board data processing capability whilst telemetry, telecommanding and data transfer are handled through various common data interfaces. The ICB can be supplemented with auxiliary daughterboard and headboard solutions to enable operation of larger and mosre specialised CMOS, CCD or EM-CCD sensors with temperature control if required.

Nuscis development is on-going with Engineering Models (EM) available Q1 2024 and Flight Models (FM) available Q3 2024. Nuscis is available for pre-order now so contact us today to find out if Nuscis is suitable for your space imaging application.

Nuscis replaces XCAM’s C3D Cubesat Camera which has successfully flown on multiple space missions in the last decade. C3D remains available to purchase on a last-time-buy whilst-stocks-last basis so contact us today for a great deal on this space-qualified entry-level camera system.

XCAM Ltd, based in Northampton, has been named SME Business Innovation 2020/21 Silver Award winner at the prestigious SME National Business Awards in a field of 15 other finalists, in recognition of its outstanding contribution and innovation in the field of digital imaging systems.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM said “We are delighted to have won this Innovation Silver Award having been finalists last year, it provides recognition of the challenging work the whole team have put in over the last few years and the innovations we are developing being recognised as truly ground-breaking, unique and making a positive difference.”

Karen continued “We have been experiencing significant growth in sales from around the world, with our busiest year ever, including projects with the European Space Agency (ESA); the work associated with the delivery of a system for the Roman Space Telescope/NASA project in partnership with the Open University; winning a Space Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT) grant to work with the University of Leicester on the development of Convolutional Neural Network for a space project; and delivery of a new system to the Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo; plus many new high-profile orders. Our success is based on our worldwide reputation and outstanding knowledge, including the ability to solve complex problems.”

XCAM designs and manufactures highly specialized custom and low-volume complex digital camera systems for challenging scientific, environmental and space applications and recently celebrated 25 years in business. They are one of only a few companies in the world to offer complete imaging sensor camera solutions.XCAM have a worldwide reputation for their ability, reputation, expertise, and outstanding knowledge in the field.

Thanks to significant UK Government funding for innovation in space technology, XCAM Ltd working with the Open University, developed new enhanced performance imaging technology to help enable the Open University conduct research support as part of NASA’s Roman Space Telescope (Roman Space Telescope/NASA) and as a flagship for space applications in the future.

The XCAM specialist digital cameras have a worldwide reputation for excellence and will provide, as part of the wider team, light sensor, custom video camera systems using EMCCD technology (Electron Multiplying Charge-coupled Device) to help scientists monitor sensors and enhance performance for the next NASA suborbital rocket space mission and future missions.

“We were approached by the Open University, due to our experience and knowledge in developing highly complex digital camera systems using the EMCCD technology,” explained Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, “Our system was the ideal fit to help the research objectives of the project, we increased the speed of some of our existing drive electronics and developed a new flexible sensor controller system. Detector scientists can now change almost any operating parameter when driving a detector and will make it particularly useful for characterisation of this new sensor technology for the NASA mission.”

XCAM designs and manufactures highly specialized custom and low-volume complex digital camera systems for challenging scientific, environmental and space applications. They are one of only a few companies in the world to offer complete imaging sensor camera solutions. XCAM have a worldwide reputation for their ability, reputation, expertise, and outstanding knowledge in the field.

Through the UK Space Agency, Government is giving a cash injection to five projects specifically designed to bring together UK business expertise with universities to help build space solutions to global problems, on UK soil.

The University of Leicester is to receive research funding to support XCAM for one of the projects, to improve the performance of cleanliness-monitoring equipment for use in the space industry. This is important because equipment, which is designed to be launched into space, needs to be super-clean. If it is not clean, then contamination can move to other delicate instruments like telescope optical surfaces, dulling them, or in the case of planetary missions, can contaminate pristine environments.

“We are delighted to be supported by the national Space Research and Innovation Network for Technology (SPRINT) and working with the University of Leicester Convolutional Neural Network experts,” explained Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM Ltd, “The University of Leicester scientists will be seeing if they can apply their expertise in novel machine learning solutions, to improve the accuracy of our cleanroom monitoring instrumentation.”

This project could form the basis of a next-generation instrument which should make cleanroom contamination monitoring even more precise, and enable the development of instruments that can operate in space for much longer than just the initial launch phases. At the same time, XCAM’s skills in neural network development will be enhanced.

The other four projects receiving a cash injection include: Using AI to automatically detect archaeology on Earth and provide data for planning permissions; Developing an Absolar carbon Action Planning Tool to monitor building’s current energy performance; Developing analytics to track the carbon and pollution emissions of ships; Developing a land-use classification map of key agricultural production in Malawi.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “The UK’s space sector is flourishing, and it is vital we give our most innovative space businesses and universities the right support to collaborate, share best practice and drive forward new ideas that could help enrich all our lives. 

“Today’s funding will provide lift-off to some of the country’s most ambitious space collaborations, accelerating potentially game-changing technologies that will help the UK respond to global challenges such as cutting carbon emissions.” 

UK based, XCAM Ltd, designers and manufacturers of specialised digital imaging systems, has successfully completed its first order to Japan for the high-performance RIXSCam Mini, a new singledetector camera system, for use on the latest X-ray beamlines for resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) experiments.

The order, from Professor Harada and Dr Miyawaki at the Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, was delivered in December 2020 and overseen by XCAM’s distributor in Japan, JEPICO Corporation. Harada-san said, “By calculation this system will dramatically improve the energy resolution of our current RIXS spectrometer. We intend to make this trial as a test piece of the ultrahigh resolution RIXS system, designed by Dr Miyawaki and realized in the next generation synchrotron radiation in the near future.”

XCAM Ltd are confident no other high-performance camera in the world currently delivers results for this specific regime and type of testing, to detect single photons of soft X-rays, to less than to 5 microns positional resolution. This innovative RIXSCam Mini system is designed and built in the UK for scientists who have, or who are, building RIXS beamlines with synchrotrons for the future and is a lower cost version of the larger and more complex multi-detector RIXSCam, which has been developed for high-resolution RIXS experiments in conjunction with the Paul Scherre institute in Switzerland.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM explained further about the order, “When Harada-san first contacted us about our larger RIXSCam systems, he was impressed with the capabilities; however, he had a similar application which required the same outstanding performance as the traditional multidetector RIXSCam provides, but with a lower cost. We suggested that the RIXSCam Mini would offer the perfect solution. Whilst this was the first RIXSCam Mini system to be delivered, it uses most of the parts developed for the now mature, and more complex larger RIXSCam systems, and so the development was more straightforward than for many of our complex projects. We are delighted to be supplying Harada-san and the prestigious University of Tokyo and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership in the future.”

XCAM Ltd is advertising at next year’s Japanese Synchrotron Conference in January for synchrotron scientists and those who build and maintain synchrotrons. If you are a beamline scientist, or work with synchrotrons, and interested in purchasing high-performance cameras to put on beamlines, please contact us on +44 (0)1604 673700 or email sales@xcam.co.uk for more information.

XCAM Ltd, celebrating 25 years in business, is currently experiencing significant growth in sales from around the world, with its busiest year ever, including new contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA) and several highly prestigious innovation award nominations. The success is based on its worldwide reputation and outstanding knowledge in the field of digital imaging systems, including the ability to solve complex problems.

XCAM Ltd, based in Northampton, designers and manufacturers of specialized digital imaging systems, has joined a consortium of leading UK industry and academic partners, led by The Open University, to undertake a scoping study which will push the limits of leading CMOS TDI sensors and optimise system configuration to develop a new satellite platform for the classification, characterisation and monitoring of trees across urban and rural landscapes. The results from this study will inform and support a bid for full funding of the project.

Funded by the UK Space Agency, the study for the project, called TreeView, will transform the ability to measure, map and monitor the health of trees from space. The UK is leading the way in response to the global climate emergency, with a commitment for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. A programme of significant tree planting for carbon sequestration and storage is planned by the UK government as part of this response, and applications in the emerging field of Precision Forestry such as TreeView will be crucial to the success of these initiatives. The satellite’s goal, if successful, will be to provide information on the level of tree planting, and the health and management of trees across urban and rural landscapes, providing vital data to governments, industry and third sector organisations.

Karen Holland, CEO of XCAM explained further, “We are delighted to be part of this scoping study over the next four months and look forward to hopefully designing and building the complex imager required, should the project succeed to the next stage of funding. In this first feasibility stage, we will be evaluating the imager system requirements and available technology, develop a suitable imager design concept and cost up towards building the imager, and preparing it for integration and subsequent launch.

XCAM Ltd, celebrating 25 years in business, is currently experiencing significant growth in sales from around the world, with its busiest year ever, including new contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA) and several highly prestigious innovation award nominations. The success is based on its worldwide reputation and outstanding knowledge in the field of digital imaging systems, including the ability to solve complex problems.

TreeView is led by Kadmiel Maseyk from the School of Environment Earth and Ecosystems and involves the Next Generation Multi-Media Group from Computing and Communications, and the Centre for Electronic Imaging. The external partners are XCAM Ltd, In-Space Missions Ltd, RAL Space, Teledyne e2v, Forest Research, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Grey Consultants Ltd and 2Excel-geo.

http://www.open.ac.uk/research/news/new-research-funding-measure-trees-space