XCAM

XCAM (trading as XCAM Scientific) is a Northampton, United Kingdom-based specialist detector and camera company that develops high-performance imaging systems for space, science, and industrial applications. The company combines deep expertise in CCD and CMOS sensor integration, vacuum-compatible optoelectronics, and scientific image processing to produce flight-qualified satellite cameras, synchrotron X-ray detectors, and cleanroom contamination monitoring instruments.

XCAM's space product line centres on the C3D CubeSat Camera System, which supports up to three CMOS sensors per controller board and has achieved a 100% mission success rate across all flights since 2014, including on UKube-1, AlSat Nano, and MIRSAT-1 — giving it TRL 9 status. The newer NuSCIS (New Space Camera Imaging System) platform extends the portfolio with CAN-Bus and SpaceWire interfaces and support for CCD and EMCCD detectors, targeting SmallSat imaging missions requiring higher performance or mission-specific detector configurations.

In the scientific instrumentation domain, XCAM has developed the RIXSCam and RIXSCam Mini — multi-EMCCD and single-EMCCD X-ray detector systems for Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) experiments at major synchrotron facilities, delivering single-photon detection with below-5-micron centroided spatial resolution in the 250–3000 eV energy range.

XCAM's ground support and test equipment includes the VacCam (in-vacuum USB video camera), CAVACam (UHV/XHV CCD/EMCCD camera for ultra-clean environments), PFO 1040 (real-time cleanroom particle fallout monitor using Direct Particle Detection technology), and the Space PFO (ESA-funded autonomous launch fairing contamination monitor). The company also produces Detector Evaluation Systems (Imager Control Systems) for Teledyne e2v CIS120, CIS125, CIS300, and ChromaD sensors.