SMC – Spacecraft Monitoring Camera
Tsd-space
The HERA Spacecraft Monitoring Camera (SMC) is a compact, high-performance CMOS camera designed for deep space applications, featuring a 4MP image sensor, real-time image processing, and radiation-tolerant electronics.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 0.9 kg
- Power
- 5 W
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Dimensions
- ~1U
- Mass (including optical system)
- 900 g
- Image sensor
- 4 MP CMOS
- Selectable roi
- 1600x1600px and 1600x1200px
- Frame rate
- Up to 10 fps
- Spectral range
- 400 to 750 nm (visible)
- Versions
- B/W and RGB
- Total pixel rate
- Up to 40Mpx/s
- Mass memory
- 2x32Gbit NAND Flash (nominal + redundant)
- FPGA
- Rad-tolerant Microchip ACTEL ProAsic3
- Compression factors
- 4÷100
- Power consumption
- <5 W @28VDC
- TID tolerance
- >20Krads
- SEE resistance
- At least 30 MeV/mg/cm2
- Flight heritage
- Successfully launched aboard the HERA Spacecraft in October 2024
About
The HERA Spacecraft Monitoring Camera (SMC) is a very compact (~1U and 900g including optical system) and high-performance CMOS Camera, specifically designed by TSD for deep space applications, in the context of the ESA HERA mission. It features a 4MP image sensor with a selectable Region of Interest (ROI) between 1600x1600px and 1600x1200px, which operates at up to 10 frames per second (fps) in the visible range, from 400 to 750 nm. Both B/W and RGB versions are available. The system offers real-time image processing capabilities, achieving a total pixel rate of up to 40Mpx/s. The camera is equipped with 2x32Gbit NAND Flash devices (nominal + redundant), along with a rad-tolerant Microchip ACTEL ProAsic3 FPGA. This FPGA can achieve compression factors in the range of 4 to 100, while requiring very low power, less than 5W at 28VDC. Being a deep-space camera, the entire electronics system is based on components radiation tolerant to a Total Ionizing Dose (TID) greater than 20Krads. Additionally, specific hardware (HW) and firmware (FW) mitigations, such as Single Event Latch-up (SEL) protection for the image sensor and Single Event Upset (SEU)/Single Event Functional Interrupt (SEFI) prevention for memories, allow the camera to be resistant to a Single Event Effects (SEE) value of at least 30 MeV/mg/cm2. The SMC has been successfully launched aboard the HERA Spacecraft in October 2024.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.