LISA reaches a crucial milestone

The future gravitational-wave observatory in space completes a rigorous review

© NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASAEA/ESA/CXC/STScl/GSFCSVS/S.Barke (CC BY 4.0)

LISA Pathfinder - A Space Saga

Relive the groundbreaking technology demonstrator's mission milestones 5 years ago in a new Youtube mini-series released by the LISA Consortium.

LISA Pathfinder being encapsulated within the Vega rocket. © ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut

13th LISA Symposium talks are online

Find out about the exciting future of gravitational wave astrophysics in space!

Artist's impression of a LISA spacecraft. © AEI/MM/exozet

ESA ministers commit to biggest ever budget

The significant boost in funding for ESA’s world-class and inspirational science programme will allow the first gravitational wave detector in space, LISA, to fly alongside the black hole mission Athena.

ESA’s Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, has concluded in Seville, Spain, with the endorsement of the most ambitious plan to date for the future of ESA and the whole European space sector. Image: ESA

Why we need a gravitational wave observatory in space

The science case for LISA

Merging Black Holes. Credit: T. Pyle/LIGO

The Gravitational Universe

Illuminating the dark universe with a new astronomy

Artist's impression of supermassive black hole. Credit: ESA/NASA, AVO project, Paolo Padovani.

LISA: A New Astronomy

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

Artist's impression of LISA satellite. Credit: AEI/MM/exozet

LPF Mission

Lancement prévu pour Decembre 2015

En route pour eLISA avec LISA Pathfinder

Vacuum integrity test of LPF. Credit: Astrium Ltd (an EADS company)

LISA Pathfinder tracera la voie vers la mission eLISA en testant, dans l’espace, le concept (les principes ?) de la détection d’ondes gravitationnelles.

L'endroit le plus silencieux du système solaire

LISA Pathfinder (LPF) placera deux masses d’épreuve en "chute libre" quasi parfaite, contrôlera et mesurera leur mouvement relatif avec une précision inégalée. Ceci sera effectué grâce à des thechnologies innovantes telles que des senseurs inertiels, un système de métrologie laser, un système à compensation de trainée et des micro-propulseurs délivrant des micro-Newton. L’ensemble de ces masses d’épreuve et leur environnement constitueront probablement un des endroits les plus "calmes" du système solaire.

Toutes ces technologies sont non seulement essentielles pour la mission eLISA, elles seront également à la base de toutes les missions qui voudront tester la théorie de la relativitié générale d’Einstein.

LPF sera lancé en novembre 2015.

The LISA Consortium

The LISA Consortium is committed to supporting the LISA mission. It includes all the main investigators involved in the highly successful LISA Pathfinder mission, a number of scientists who worked on the ground-based LIGO, Virgo, and GEO projects, and a number who worked on the Laser Ranging Interferometer on the GRACE Follow-On mission, thus making full use of the expertise accumulated so far. The LISA Consortium proposed and submitted the white paper The Gravitational Universe which was accepted for the ESA L3 slot.

If you are a scientist and wish to contribute to the LISA mission, use this scientist registration form.

A new frontier for exploring the physical universe

New movie: LISA, the first gravitational wave observatory in space

On the occasion of the 236th meeting of the American Astronomical Society the LISA Consortium launched a new movie about ESA´s LISA mission. LISA is a space mission led by ESA with contributions from NASA and many ESA member states. LISA will observe gravitational waves in space with three satellites connected by laser beams forming a constellation in a heliocentric orbit.

Latest news and consortium activities

Date Title Summary
Dec 10, 2014
 Preparing the team: Operations test The LISA Pathfinder science team, together with the Science and Technology Operations...
May 24, 2012
 Getting ready for next time: European gravitational wave community strengthens space collaboration The LISA mission was reported to have been unanimously ranked first by ESA´s scientific...
Jun 24, 2016
 LISA Pathfinder completes first operations phase ESA: LISA Pathfinder completes first operations phase on 25 June and will continue...
Mar 06, 2020
 European Astronomical Society: LISA Pathfinder Principal Investigator Stefano Vitale awarded the 2020 Tycho Brahe Medal The European Astronomical Society (EAS) awards the 2020 Tycho Brahe Medal to Prof....
Feb 26, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder takes first steps on journey to space The LISA Pathfinder spacecraft has taken the first steps on the journey that will...

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Conferences, publications and positions

Date News topic Imagesort descending Title
Mar 07, 2011
 Papers A source-free integration method for black hole perturbations and self-force computation: Radial fall
May 03, 2023
 Conferences Dark Matter and Stars: Multi-Messenger Probes of Dark Matter and Modified Gravity, May 3-5 2023, Lisbon
Feb 21, 2023
 Positions PhD positions in gravitational wave cosmology at L2IT Toulouse
Sep 26, 2011
 Papers Gravitational Radiation in Horava Gravity
May 21, 2023
 Conferences GWADW 2023, May 21-27, La Biodola (Elba)
Sep 11, 2023
 Conferences ISAPP 2023 Texel - Exploring the Dark Universe: From Particles to Galaxies, 11 - 17 Sep 2023
Apr 28, 2014
 Papers Space-borne Gravitational Wave Observatories
Positions PhD or Masters by Research positions – University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Jul 26, 2023
 Conferences ICRC 2023 Conference, July 26-August 3, 2023, Nagoya, Japan
May 04, 2011
 Papers Fourth order indirect integration method for black hole perturbations: even modes
Dec 14, 2022
 Positions Postdoctoral position in theoretical stellar astrophysics at the FORTH Institute of Astrophysics
Aug 09, 2023
 Conferences Fundamental Physics with LISA, Niels Bohr Institute, 9–11 August 2023
Sep 14, 2014
 Papers From Boltzmann equations to steady wall velocities
Apr 13, 2023
 Conferences BritGrav23, April 13-14 2023, Southampton
Sep 11, 2023
 Conferences COSMO'23, 11-15 September, Madrid

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External links