Kayser Italia is proud to announce the delivery of PLATO Instrument Control Unit flight model.
The ICU has been shipped to the OHB Munchen (Satellite Prime integrator) after the authorization of ASI and ESA. Together with the KI designed and realized electronics box, the unit includes also the boot SW and the FPGA firmware developed by KI, the Router and Data Compression Unit (RDCU) developed by IWF and the Application SW written and validated by INAF-IAPS. The PLATO instrument control unit is the mission payload Data Processing System (DPS) on-board computer. The role of ICU is very critical because it is the only interface between the PLATO Service Module (SVM) and the mission payload subsystems (MEU, FEU, AEU) through SpaceWire network. For this reason and in order to minimize any risks, the ICU is made up by two cold redundant identical chains, with the possibility to use the SpW router in cross-strapping. Among the other functionalities the ICU has the role to collect, compress and send to the SVM all scientific data acquired by the 24 + 2 (Normal and Fast) cameras.
The ICU has been developed thanks to the funding of the Italian Space Agency and under INAF supervision and is part of the Italian contribution to the PLATO mission. The flight model successfully passed all test campaign, included the Vibration and thermal vacuum acceptance test conducted at the CIRA Space Qualification centre, and is now ready for integration. The mission launch is foreseen for end of 2026.
Photo credit Kayser Italia.
ICU proto flight model during TVAC test. All unit interface connectors are mated to the TVAC chamber field through in order to operate ICU in Vacuum conditions.