Sodern
| Industry | Space instrumentation, optics, neutron detection |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Headquarters | Limeil-Brévannes , France |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Franck Poirrier (CEO) |
| Products | Space instruments, satellite components, neutron generators, interrogation systems |
| Owner | ArianeGroup (90%), French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (10%) |
Number of employees | 400 (2017) |
Sodern is a French enterprise located in Limeil-Brévannes, close to Paris within the Ile-de-France region, specializing in the fields of space instrumentation, optics, and neutron detection devices.
Its ownership is divided between ArianeGroup, holding 90%, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, which possesses 10%.
The company designs and manufactures instruments for space missions, satellite components, neutron generators, and interrogation systems. Since the early 2000s, Sodern has played a role in explorations of Mars (NASA InSight, India Mars Orbiter), Jupiter’s moons (NASA Europa Clipper, ESA JUICE), Venus (Japanese "Planet C"), Ceres (NASA Dawn), as well as lunar missions. Among its notable achievements is the development of the central element of the PHARAO atomic clock, intended to test general relativity effects with exceptional accuracy.
As the worldwide frontrunner in star trackers—essential for satellite navigation—and neutron tubes, Sodern is acknowledged by French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as a "strategic player" in France’s defense sector. The firm supplies neutron sources for the French nuclear arsenal alongside payloads for military satellites dedicated to Earth observation and autonomous positioning without GPS reliance.
Franck Poirrier, Sodern’s CEO, also serves as the representative for space equipment manufacturers within COSPACE (the French Ministerial Committee of Space Coordination).
History
Established in 1962 within Philips' Laboratory of Electronics and Applied Physics (LEP), Sodern initially produced first-generation external neutron sources.
By the late 1960s, the company expanded its expertise into optical and advanced space sensor technologies, rapidly becoming a global leader. In response to requests from CNES during the early 1970s, Sodern developed Europe’s inaugural Earth sensors for attitude control on the experimental telecommunications satellite Symphonie (satellite).
In 1975, Sodern was subcontracted by ESA to fabricate several instruments for Spacelab. The company engineered a highly precise attitude measurement system and supplied SED04 star trackers for Spacelab’s Instrument Pointing System (IPS). These devices achieved an accuracy of 0.75 arcseconds—precise enough to discern "a golf ball from 10 km away."
By the mid-1990s, Sodern had further refined its optical instrumentation specifically tailored for space applications.
Activity
Although initially focused on neutron sources supporting France’s deterrent capabilities, Sodern broadened its scope in the late 1960s to encompass optical sensors and sophisticated spacecraft instruments.
Space Instrumentation
Sodern’s portfolio currently includes a range of space-related instruments:
- Devices for satellite attitude control: Earth sensors, Solar sensors, and star trackers are integrated into satellites such as Spot, Helios, Eurostar, as well as the M51 missile. The company developed its first Earth sensor in 1977, which flew aboard Meteosat I.
- Equipment for Earth observation: cameras and optical/optronic instruments installed on satellites including Spot, Helios, and Envisat.
- Sophisticated optical systems serving the nuclear sector, French deterrence programs, and scientific research initiatives—for instance, Astrium's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) videometers used for autonomous docking with the ISS, along with the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) employed on MetOp.
- Tailored scientific instruments embedded on satellites, orbital stations, and exploratory vehicles. These include the PHARAO atomic clock, developed based on Nobel Laureate Claude Cohen-Tannoudji’s research; devices studying critical liquids aboard DECLIC; and essential parts of the exoplanet camera on the COROT satellite.
Star Trackers
Sodern stands as a worldwide frontrunner in the star tracker market, holding approximately 75% of the sector alongside European counterparts Galileo (Italy) and Jena Optronik (Germany).
The pioneering SED16 sensor was the first to substitute gyroscopes in satellites, making its debut in May 2002 on the Spot 5 satellite. Since then, it has been integrated into numerous spacecraft, including the American communication satellite AMC 12 launched in 2005. Its follow-up model, the SED26, was introduced in April 2005 aboard Apstar VI. Remarkably, Sodern’s SED16 sensors were employed on the U.S. Dawn mission, which explored asteroids Vesta and Ceres, representing some of the most distant operational equipment in deep space.
The SED26 sensor plays a critical role in guiding missions such as the European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Helios 2, Orbview 3 and 4, Sorce (from Orbital), and more than a dozen Russian ISS-Reshetnev satellites.
In June 2005, Sodern unveiled the Hydra sensor—a device that surpasses the SED series in accuracy while being more compact and lighter. Supported by ESA and CNES funding, Hydra offers radiation resistance, weighs roughly half of the 3 kg SED sensor, consumes just one Watt during operation, and delivers an angular precision of one arc second per axis. To date, over one hundred Hydra units have been sold, with the first launched in September 2012 aboard France’s Spot 6 satellite.
Optical Instrumentation
During the late 1960s, Sodern embarked on significant optical instrumentation projects such as developing data strips for air traffic control systems and creating a prototype mini-camera for Val-de-Grâce hospital in France. This camera was designed to detect gamma and beta radiation to assist with cancer tumor excision.
Throughout the 1980s, Sodern contributed to focal plane and optical system development for ESA’s Meris instrument on Envisat, supplied cameras for CNES's IASI and CNES/NASA's CALIPSO programs, and engineered the dioptric objective lens for COROT—an instrument dedicated to detecting exoplanets and conducting stellar seismology.
Sodern broadened its Earth observation portfolio with the manufacturing of Spot1’s camera (DTA01) in 1986 and continued to supply cameras along with optical/optronic instruments for satellite missions including Spot, Helios, and Envisat.
Strip Filters
Sodern innovated advanced multi-spectral "strip filters" that enable simultaneous acquisition across various spectral bands by assembling elementary filter strips. Each strip functions as an individual filter unit; combining them creates an "assembled strip filter." The filter properties are tailored according to specific satellite mission needs such as visible or infrared Earth observation.
Neutron
In the 1980s, Sodern expanded its neutron-related civil applications by developing neutron generators (TN26 followed by GENIE36) utilized in radioactive waste reprocessing to measure transuranic elements. These technologies also found applications in sectors like mining, oil logging, metallurgy, explosives detection, and neutron radiography.
Collaboration with Schlumberger in the early 1990s led Sodern to design its first neutron-flanged tube specifically for oil logging purposes.
By the late 1990s, Sodern introduced the Continuous Neutron Analyzer (CNA) tailored for cement composition analysis. This neutron interrogation technology was further adapted for use with coal, ores such as copper, nickel, bauxite, iron, as well as scrap and waste materials. As of 2010, approximately seventy CNA units had been sold primarily to cement producers. PANalytical markets these analyzers.
Together with the French Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA), Sodern developed INES—an explosives detection system for airport baggage inspection. Employing Fast Neutron Activation (FNA), it distinguishes explosives based on their oxygen and nitrogen signatures. Capable of processing 1200 bags per hour with a detection accuracy of 99.8%, this system has not entered commercial production.
During the 1990s, Sodern launched THOR (military) and ULIS (civilian) devices designed for remote detection of explosives and hazardous materials concealed within abandoned luggage or parcels. Their compact form factor allows these devices to be carried like suitcases.
The NIPPS (Neutron Induced Prompt Photometer System) facilitates non-invasive identification of illicit or dangerous substances and has been utilized by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Management
Ownership of the company is predominantly held by the European aerospace corporation ArianeGroup, which possesses a 90% stake, while the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) retains the other 10%. In 2017, the workforce consisted of roughly 400 employees, with engineers making up about 60% of the total staff.