On November 2024 the Space Qualification Laboratory at CIRA has successfully concluded an intense test campaign on the PFM (Proto Flight Model) of the ICU (Instrument Control Unit), the onboard computer of the scientific payload for ESA's PLATO mission. The ICU, developed by Kayser Italia, a Livorno-based company commissioned by ASI under the supervision of INAF (National Institute for Astrophysics), includes the design of both hardware and part of the onboard software. Passing the vibration and thermal vacuum tests and measuring the inertial properties will allow Kayser Italia, with authorization from ASI and ESA, to deliver the ICU to OHB Munich (the Satellite Prime Integrator) for integration into the PLATO space telescope. By the end of 2026, PLATO is set to be launched into space aboard an Ariane 6 rocket from the European base in Kourou, French Guiana. After a journey of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, opposite the Sun, PLATO will orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian Point L2.
PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars) is a space telescope developed under ESA's mission, aimed at searching for and characterizing potential extrasolar exoplanets capable of hosting life. PLATO will use the transit method: detecting variations in the brightness of a star caused by a planet crossing between the star and the observer.
The ICU is part of the scientific payload's data processing system, which relies on 26 cameras observing visible light. The scientific data collected will be compressed and transmitted to Earth by the ICU. Additionally, the ICU will handle telemetry and telecommands to and from the Service Module (SVM) and collect housekeeping data on the health and performance of other payload units.
