Portugal present in ESA's Athena mission

Portuguese research and technology will be present in 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 has 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 which are Portuguese: FHP , which will develop the mechanical component of the system; and Evoleo , which is responsible for the electronic subsystems. The IA is responsible for the design and development of the measurement system, design of the optical component and execution of the tests.

This consortium is one of those that make up the Athena (Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics) mission, which is part of ESA's long-term Cosmic Vision programme. The Athena telescope, scheduled to be launched in 2031, will allow us to understand 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 help us understand how these galaxies were organized into structures spanning hundreds of millions of light years and which are the “skeleton” of the Universe.

More details about this project on the IA page .

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