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
Sep 01, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder on the way to launch The satellite is completed LISA Pathfinder (LPF), the test mission to demonstrate new...
Sep 01, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder en el camí al llençament El satèl·lit s'ha acabat LISA Pathfinder (LPF), la missió per demostrar les noves...
Oct 08, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder arrives at Launch Site in Kourou, French Guiana LPF arrives safely at the launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.
Dec 03, 2015
 LISA Pathfinder launches successfully on 3 Dec 2015 LISA Pathfinder lifted off on Ariane Spaceflight VV06 atop the sixth Vega rocket on 3...
Jan 13, 2016
 Laser light for LISA Pathfinder Since December 3, 2015, LISA Pathfinder is in space and still on the way to its target...

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Conferences, publications and positions

Date News topicsort descending Image Title
Nov 30, 2023
 Positions Permanent position Research Engineer (CNRS Mobility)
Dec 06, 2022
 Positions PhD and postdoctoral positions in Continuous Gravitational Wave research at AEI Hannover
Oct 05, 2023
 Positions Postdoctoral Openings in Theoretical Astroparticle and Particle Physics at SISSA
Nov 02, 2023
 Positions Associate or Full Professor in Technology Development or Instrumentation at University of Florida
Oct 17, 2023
 Positions Faculty Position at Troy University
Nov 21, 2023
 Positions Postdoc position at University of Western Australia
Sep 14, 2023
 Positions Open call for Postdoctoral Fellowships at ICE-CSIC in Barcelona
Nov 30, 2023
 Positions Postdoc in Gravitational Wave Data Analysis in Utrecht
Positions PhD positions available at the UWA Gravitational-Wave Astronomy Group
Oct 05, 2023
 Positions Assistant Professorship in Theoretical and Gravitational Wave Astrophysics at Niels Bohr Institute
Nov 07, 2023
 Positions Assistant Professor in Time-Domain Astronomy at University of Florida
Oct 17, 2023
 Positions Research Expert in gravitational wave simulation & data analysis for LISA
Nov 21, 2023
 Positions Postdoctoral position at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Sep 19, 2023
 Positions Postdoc position in computational relativistic astrophysics and numerical relativity at Caltech
Oct 25, 2023
 Positions Assistant Professor in Experimental Gravitational Wave at University of Florida

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