Boeing Co. announced that its team building the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system has selected a vendor for the optical sensor that will fly aboard the Pathfinder spacecraft.

Boeing and space vehicle provider Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. selected Semiconductor Technology Associates Inc. of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., as the supplier of the charge-coupled device, which is a critical element in the optical payload for collecting images aboard the spacecraft. The SBSS Pathfinder team identified the development of the charge-coupled device as the highest technological risk on the program.

Boeing received a contract in March 2004 to develop the SBSS Pathfinder, which will augment the existing space surveillance network and provide an increase in capacity and timeliness of detecting and tracking orbiting space objects. The spacecraft is scheduled for a December 2008 launch.