SPACEKIDS: kinetic inductance detectors for space applications

SPACEKIDS, a European Union FP-7 project, has recently been completed. It has focused on developing kinetic inductance detector (KID) arrays and demonstrating their suitability for space applications at far infrared and submillimetre wavelengths. KID arrays have been developed for both low-background (typical of astrophysical applications) and high-background (typical of Earth-observation applications), based on performance specifications derived from the science requirements of representative potential future missions. KID pixel and array designs have been developed, together with readout electronics necessary to read out large numbers of pixels. Two laboratory demonstrator systems have been built and used for comprehensive evaluation of large-format array characteristics and performance in environments representative of both astronomy and Earth observing applications. We present an overview of the SPACEKIDS project and a summary of its main results and conclusions.