Paper 14145-174
Paper 14145-174
The PLATO Instrument Control Unit: from qualification to flight integration and final readiness
6 July 2026 • 17:30 - 19:00 CEST | Room B4-M3
Abstract
The PLATO Instrument Control Unit (ICU), the payload’s on-board computer for data handling and lossless compression, has completed its qualification and reached flight status. Developed by INAF and Kayser Italia with contributions from IWF Graz and the University of Vienna, the ICU has evolved from Engineering Models to the Proto-Flight Model (PFM), now integrated into the payload. We present the final ICU configuration and the key results of the PFM functional, environmental, and EMC test campaigns. Particular emphasis is placed on the performance of the hardware–software compression chain, verification of redundancy and SpaceWire interfaces, and validation of the flight Application Software. The results confirm compliance with PLATO requirements and demonstrate full readiness of the ICU for launch.
Presenter
Fundación Galileo Galilei - INAF (Spain)
Rosario Cosentino graduated in Physics from the University of Catania in 1989. He has been a staff astronomer at the Catania Astrophysical Observatory since 1993 and at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (FGG–INAF) since 2000. His research focuses on the development and characterization of astronomical detectors and instrumentation. He contributed to the UV CCD characterization facility in Catania, the electro-optic testing of CCDs, and the development of SARG for the TNG. He has worked on new detector technologies (CCD, SPAD, CMOS-APS) and related control electronics, and participated in major projects such as X-Shooter, the European Solar Telescope instrument control system, and the SOXS spectrograph, where he is responsible for the VIS detector system. He currently serves as the Instrument Control Unit lead for the PLATO mission and as Instrument Scientist for the HARPS-N spectrograph at TNG.