An imaging unit was designed and researched in detail according to the design demands of the space optical remote camera. Firstly, a structure of the imaging unit was proposed, which had smaller size, lighter weight and higher stability. Secondly, in view of the complex working conditions of the optical remote camera electronic device, the protective design method was provided, and an active thermal control method was designed. Finally, the imaging unit was analyzed using FEM. The results show that the imaging unit has a better dynamic performance, as the fundamental frequency of the imaging unit has achieved 184 Hz, which is much higher than the natural frequency 106 Hz of the optical remote camera. The mechanical and thermal stability is higher under the conditions of gravity and ±25 ℃. The mechanical and thermal optical tests are carried out on the imaging unit, and the mechanical test results show that the fundamental frequency of the imaging unit is 185 Hz, which maintains a good consistency with the theoretical analysis result. The thermal optical test results show that the imaging unit has little influence on the thermal optical performance of the whole machine, and all the indicators meet the design requirements.