Sodern

Sodern is a French manufacturer of star trackers and neutron tubes for satellites and spacecraft, with origins tracing back to 1962 when the company was created within Philips' Laboratory of Electronics and Applied Physics (LEP). Based in Limeil-Brévannes, France (near Paris), Sodern is one of the world leaders in the development and production of star trackers — optical instruments that allow satellites to precisely determine their attitude by tracking star patterns. The company's SED series star trackers and Hydra attitude sensors are used on a wide variety of commercial, civil, and military satellites. Sodern also has a US subsidiary (Sodern America) serving North American customers.