  The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment (CIBER) is a suite of four
instruments designed to study the near infrared (IR) background light from
above the Earth's atmosphere. The instrument package comprises two imaging
telescopes designed to characterize spatial anisotropy in the extragalactic IR
background caused by cosmological structure during the epoch of reionization, a
low resolution spectrometer to measure the absolute spectrum of the
extragalactic IR background, and a narrow band spectrometer optimized to
measure the absolute brightness of the Zodiacal light foreground. In this paper
we describe the design and characterization of the CIBER payload. The detailed
mechanical, cryogenic, and electrical design of the system are presented,
including all system components common to the four instruments. We present the
methods and equipment used to characterize the instruments before and after
flight, and give a detailed description of CIBER's flight profile and
configurations. CIBER is designed to be recoverable and has flown twice, with
modifications to the payload having been informed by analysis of the first
flight data. All four instruments performed to specifications during the second
flight, and the scientific data from this flight are currently being analyzed.
