Abstract: High-speed images near separation are required in the rocket sledge head cover separation experiment. Due to the short time of explosion, the harsh environment of vibration and shock, common cameras cannot work properly. A small and low power high-speed image acquisition system is proposed, which is applicable in the vibration and shock environment. This system consists of a Camera Link interfaced camera, an image acquisition coding unit, and a data storage unit. The image acquisition and coding unit acquires images from the Camera Link interfaced camera and codes the image, and transmits the image to the data storage unit by the LVDS interface. A SATA interface solid-state hard disk is used in the data storage unit. By vibration absorption design and automatic light compensation, the system can work properly in a high shock environment, and can adapt to any light environment. The high-speed image acquisition system has been applied successfully in the rocket sledge head cover separation experiment. The resolution of 800×600, with 120 frame/s mono chrome camera is achieved. The saving time is no less than 30 minutes, and the image data is integral and reliable.