Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
Artist's conception of LISA spacecraft | |
| Mission type | Gravitational waves observation |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | Nominal Science Phase 4.5 years, Mission lifetime 6.25 years |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | OHB System AG with Thales Alenia Space |
| Launch mass | 8212 kg |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 2035 (planned) |
| Rocket | Ariane 6 |
| Launch site | Kourou ELA-4 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Heliocentric |
| Semi-major axis | 1 AU |
| Period | 1 year |
| Epoch | planned |
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a planned European space mission to detect and measure gravitational waves—slight ripples in the fabric of spacetime—from astronomical sources. LISA will be the first dedicated space-based gravitational-wave observatory. It aims to measure gravitational waves directly by using laser interferometry. The LISA concept features three spacecraft arranged in an equilateral triangle with each side 2.5 million kilometers long, flying in an Earth-like heliocentric orbit. The relative acceleration between the satellites is precisely monitored to detect a passing gravitational wave, which are distortions of spacetime traveling at the speed of light.
Potential sources for signals are merging supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, massive black holes orbited by small compact objects, known as extreme mass ratio inspirals, binaries of compact stars, substellar objects orbiting such binaries, and possibly other sources of cosmological origin, such as a cosmological phase transition shortly after the Big Bang, and speculative astrophysical objects like cosmic strings and domain boundaries.