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This paper concerns the development of instrumentation to detect the presence of small clouds < 1km square. This cloud imager will be part of the Pakistani BADR-B micro-satellite, currently planned for launch with ERS-2. The project will take advantage of the opportunity of a low-cost, short time scale launch on BADR-B, to produce early data demonstrating the technology available for 'small cloud' detection. This technology will be of particular interest to future Earth Observing satellite instruments involved in the measurement of Sea Surface Temperature. The cloud imager will consist of a CCD camera operating at visible wavelengths, aiming to achieve 250x250m resolution on the ground, and with a wide field of view of 8.5°( equivalent to approximately 200x 150km on the ground). The challenge in the design and build of this instrument was the need to maintain the performance with the restrictions on available mass, power, space and schedule (12 months to delivery). This paper will describe the design and testing of the instrument, with particular emphasis on the lens system and CCD detector; it will also include some discussion of the scientific objectives.