WE PROPOSE TO DEMONSTRATE IN SPACE A NEW AND HIGHLY SENSITIVE 2X8 HGCDTE ELECTRON AVALANCHE PHOTO DIODE (E-APD) ARRAY DEVELOPED BY DRS-RSTA THAT HAS HIGH QUANTUM EFFICIENCY AND SINGLE PHOTON LEVEL RESPONSE AT IR WAVELENGTHS FROM 1 TO 4 MICRONS. CURRENTLY THERE ARE NO SPACE-QUALIFIED PHOTON LEVEL COUNTING DETECTORS AT>1-MICRON THAT ARE COMPATIBLE WITH LONG-TERM SPACE OPERATION. FOR THIS REASON THE ICESAT-2 MISSION CONVERTED ITS 1-MICRON LASER INTO THE GREEN WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED THE INSTRUMENT'S POWER AND COMPLEXITY. FUTURE NASA MISSIONS SUCH AS ICESAT ASCENDS LIST AND OTHERS WILL GREATLY BENEFIT FROM THESE PHOTON-SENSITIVE IR DETECTOR ARRAYS.WE WILL CHARACTERIZE THE DETECTOR RESPONSE TO 1-2 MICRON SOURCES AND MEASURE ITS DARK CURRENT AS A FUNCTION OF TIME IDEALLY 1 YEAR ON ORBIT IN THE INTEGRATED SPACE RADIATION ENVIRONMENT. WE WILL USE A 3U CUBESAT FROM THE AEROSPACE CORPORATION THAT WILL CONTAIN A DRS TECHNOLOGIES 2X8 HGCDTE E-APD ARRAY SENSOR HOUSED IN A DEWAR-COOLER ASSEMBLY FOR OPERATION AT 80K. THE CUBESAT WILL HAVE ATTITUDE KNOWLEDGE CONTROL AND GROUND CONNECTIVITY IDENTICAL OR IMPROVED OVER THE THREE AEROCUBE-4 SATELLITES CURRENTLY ON ORBIT. OUR PROPOSAL DIVIDES THE MISSION INTO SEPARATE COST OPTIONS. THE BASELINE MISSION TESTS DEVICE PERFORMANCE SOLELY WITH 1-2 MICRON SOURCES LOCATED ON THE CUBESAT. OPTION 1 ADDS SENSOR STIMULATION FROM GROUND SOURCES PROVIDING A MORE COMPLEX AND REALISTIC USAGE SCENARIO. OPTION 2 ADDS A LENS ARRAY TO THE DETECTOR IMPROVING ITS EFFICIENCY. OPTION 3 ADDS COST FOR AN ATHENA LAUNCH IN 2015. THE PROPOSED DETECTOR FOR THIS FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION WILL ENTER AS TRL 5/6 WHEN IN JUNE 2013 AND EXIT AT TRL 8/9 BY APRIL 2016.