Status of space activity and science detectors development at Sofradir

SOFRADIR is one of the main companies involved in the development and manufacturing of infrared detectors for space applications leading to many space studies and programs from visible up to VLWIR spectral ranges. Numerous programs are currently running for different kinds of missions: meteorology (MTG), Copernicus with the Sentinel detectors series, Metop-SG system (3MI, Sentinel-5 and Metimage), Mars exploration (Exomars), moon exploration (Chandrayaan mission with Indian space agency)… Apart from these programs, the development of scientific missions is increasing. In particular, for the last 5 years, Sofradir and CEA-LETI have worked on specific detectors in SWIR bands to address these needs. The ALFA detector development in progress is the result of these developments. It is expected to propose the first generation of this detector in 2019 for upcoming scientific mission and / or ground universe exploration. In this paper, an overview of space activity at Sofradir with the main space programs and developments will be described, followed by a description of very large detector developments made for science.