NASA advances LISA mission with new test telescope design
NASA has selected L3Harris Technologies to build an engineering test unit for the European Space Agency-led LISA space observatory scheduled for launch in the mid-2030s.
New telescope development begins
L3Harris will design, assemble and integrate the new all-glass telescope for the project. This Engineering Test Unit represents a final step toward future production of flight hardware. The mission aims to detect gravitational waves using infrared laser beams between satellites.
Satellite array configuration details
The observatory will deploy three satellites into an Earth-following orbit to form a triangular array. Each side of this formation stretches 1.6 million miles or 2.5 million kilometers. Every satellite includes two telescopes that transmit and receive signals simultaneously.
Measurement precision goals
Spacecraft will measure minuscule changes in relative distances to identify passing gravitational waves. These detected changes are smaller than the width of a helium atom. The data will reveal low-frequency gravitational waves currently undetectable by other methods.
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