Portugal on ESA's Athena mission

Portuguese research and technology will be present on the Athena mission, one of the major missions of the European Space Agency (ESA), through the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) and the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa).

IA won the ESA contract to develop a precision optical system for the future high-energy space observatory. For two years, IA will lead a consortium with three industries linked to the aerospace sector, two of them Portuguese: FHP, which will develop the mechanical component of the system; and Evoleo, which will be responsible for the electronic subsystems. IA is responsible for designing and developing the measurement system, designing the optical component and carrying out the tests.

This consortium is part of the Athena mission (Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics), which is part of ESA's long-term Cosmic Vision program. The Athena telescope, due to be launched in 2031, will make it possible to learn how black holes with the mass of millions of suns determined the formation of the first galaxies and the evolution of galaxies like ours, or to help understand how these galaxies organized themselves into structures hundreds of millions of light-years across and which are the "skeleton" of the Universe.

More details about this project on the IA website.

Image credits: IRAP, CNES, ESA & ACO (telescope image) ; NASA/CXC/Univ of Missouri/M.Brodwin et al; NASA/STScI; JPL/CalTech (background image)