The LISA Pathfinder programme will demonstrate, in orbit, the technologies for LISA, the ESA–NASA Laser Interferometry Satellite Antenna gravity wave observatory.
LISA Pathfinder will be launched no earlier than end-2010. It will be packed with radical instrumentation and technology to pave the way for LISA, the world's first space-based gravity wave detector, which will be launched in the next decade and will open a new window on the Universe by measuring gravitational waves generated by exotic objects such as collapsing binary star systems and massive black holes.
The basic principle of LISA is to measure the changes in distance between freely floating 'test masses', literally, small gold blocks held in place by carefully controlled electrostatic fields. LISA will rely on three core technologies to be tested by LISA Pathfinder: gravitational reference sensors, laser interferometry and micro-Newton thrusters. But instead of a separation of 5 million km as in the three-spacecraft LISA mission, LISA Pathfinder will use test masses only 30cm apart and placed on a single spacecraft.
The key driver for the LISA programme is that scientists predict gravitational waves should still be echoing from the very first second of the formation of the Universe. Detection of these waves would be the most fundamental discovery that LISA could make.
Astrium was competitively selected by ESA to build LISA Pathfinder, and is responsible for delivering the integrated spacecraft ready for launch. The project is led by Astrium UK in Stevenage. Astrium Germany has been selected as industrial lead for one of the mission’s two advanced instrument packages, the LISA Test Package (LTP) provided by European institutes and ESA.
