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

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

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Latest news and consortium activities

Date Title Summary
Jul 17, 2015
 ESA: Inside LISA Pathfinder ESA’s LISA Pathfinder mission is a technology demonstrator that will pave the way for...
Apr 18, 2016
 No showstoppers: GOAT reports on space-based gravitational wave observatory In the final report now delivered to ESA, the Gravitational Observatory Advisory Team...
Aug 29, 2013
 LISA Pathfinder: from CAD models to ready-to-fly hardware Optical bench integrated into the core assembly LISA Pathfinder space mission reached...
Sep 01, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder on the way to launch The satellite is completed LISA Pathfinder (LPF), the test mission to demonstrate new...
Jan 25, 2018
 LISA PATHFINDER WINS AMERICAN ASTRONAUTICAL SOCIETY AWARD ESA's LISA Pathfinder mission has been honoured with the 2017 Space Technology Award of...

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Conferences, publications and positions

Date News topic Imagesort descending Title
Positions PhD Scholarships – Statistics and Gravitational Wave Science for LISA, New Zealand
Oct 12, 2023
 Positions PTA postdoctoral position at Vanderbilt University
Nov 21, 2023
 Positions Project Manager (m/f/d) for Space Department at AEI Hannover
Apr 24, 2014
 Papers Data Analysis Methods for Testing Alternative Theories of Gravity with LISA Pathfinder
Dec 06, 2023
 Conferences 10th International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology: New Horizons and Singularities in Gravity, Dec 6-9 2023 in India
Oct 24, 2023
 Positions Risk Manager for LISA Instruments at Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
Jan 28, 2024
 Conferences Nordic Winter School on Multimessenger Astrophysics, January 28 - February 2, 2024, Skeikampen, Norway
Oct 11, 2016
 Papers Distinguishing between formation channels for binary black holes with LISA
Nov 27, 2023
 Conferences 12th Australasian Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation (ACGRG), November 27 - December 1, 2023, Hobart
Nov 07, 2023
 Positions Postdoc position at UTRGV in Brownsville
Papers Perturbation method in the assessment of radiation reaction in the capture of stars by black holes
Positions PhD positions available at the UWA Gravitational-Wave Astronomy Group
Oct 13, 2023
 Positions Postdoc in astroparticle physics at SISSA in Trieste
Nov 22, 2023
 Positions Postdoc on LISA and Einstein Telescope Data Analysis at Utrecht University
Apr 30, 2009
 Papers Assembly of Supermassive Black Holes at High Redshifts

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