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Working life extensions for ESA's science missions
by
bolun
on 21 Nov, 2014 16:41
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http://sci.esa.int/director-desk/54999-working-life-extensions-for-esas-science-missions/During its meeting at the European Space Astronomy Centre, near Madrid, on 19 November, the SPC gave the green light for the flotilla of spacecraft to continue their key scientific endeavours for at least another two years.
After a comprehensive review by the Science Programme’s advisory structure of the current operational status and likely scientific return of each mission in the future, the SPC agreed to continue funding for six ESA-led missions (Cluster, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, PROBA-2, SOHO and XMM-Newton) for the period 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2016. The committee also confirmed support for the final phase of Venus Express operations during 2015.
ESA’s remarkable Rosetta comet chaser was not on the agenda of the meeting. Although the nominal end of its mission is currently planned for December 2015, its scientific studies have only recently begun, so consideration of a possible extension into 2016 has been deferred until early 2015.
The go-ahead was also given to continue ESA’s contributions to three international collaborative missions, namely Hinode (with JAXA), and Cassini-Huygens and the Hubble Space Telescope (both with NASA).
With all of these science missions continuing to deliver outstanding science, the SPC gave their preliminary support to further extensions for eight of the missions - all except Cassini-Huygens and Venus Express - during 2017-2018, subject to review in late 2016.
Cassini-Huygens will complete its mission in late 2017 when it enters the atmosphere of Saturn. Until then, it will observe the transition from spring to summer in Saturn’s northern hemisphere, study changes in the weather and surface features of Titan, and continue probing the icy jets of Enceladus and the spectacular rings. Venus Express is expected to burn up in Venus’s atmosphere during 2015, completing its intensive survey of the cloud-shrouded planet.
Decisions to extend ESA space science missions are made on a rolling two-year schedule. The next two-year mission extension cycle will begin in mid-2016.
Credits: ESA
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#1
by
bolun
on 26 Nov, 2016 19:51
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http://sci.esa.int/director-desk/58589-two-year-extensions-confirmed-for-esa-s-science-missions/ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) has today confirmed two-year mission extensions for nine scientific missions in which the Agency is participating. This secures their operations until the end of 2018.
After a comprehensive review of their current operational status and the likely scientific return from each mission, the SPC decided to extend the operation of six ESA-led missions (Cluster, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, PROBA-2, SOHO and XMM-Newton) from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018.
The go-ahead was also given to continue ESA's contributions to the operations of three international collaborative missions: the Hubble Space Telescope and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), which are both led by NASA, as well as Hinode, which is a Japanese-led mission.
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#2
by
bolun
on 09 Dec, 2017 13:52
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http://sci.esa.int/director-desk/59839-green-light-for-continued-operations-of-esa-science-missions/ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) has approved indicative extensions, up to 2019-2020, for the operation of eight scientific missions.
During its meeting at ESA Headquarters in Paris, on 21-22 November, the SPC approved indicative extensions for the continued operation of five ESA-led missions: Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, SOHO, and XMM-Newton. This followed a comprehensive review of the current operational status and outlook of the missions and their expected scientific returns during the extension period. The decision will be subject to confirmation towards the end of 2018. [1]
The lifetime of Gaia, ESA's billion star surveyor, was extended by eighteen months, from 25 July 2019 to 31 December 2020. This is the first time that Gaia, which was launched in 2013 and originally funded for a five-year mission, has been subject to the extension process.
Mars Express, SOHO, and XMM-Newton each received extensions of two years, so their operations will continue at least until the end of 2020.
The SPC extended the operations of the high-energy observatory INTEGRAL by one year, until 31 December 2019. A proposal to extend INTEGRAL until the end of 2020, as well as a proposal concerning a two-year extension of the magnetospheric plasma mission, Cluster, will be presented to the next meeting of the SPC in February 2018.
The go-ahead was also given to continue ESA's contributions to the operations of three international collaborative missions: the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), which are both led by NASA, as well as the Japanese-led mission Hinode.
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#3
by
bolun
on 14 Nov, 2018 18:37
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http://sci.esa.int/director-desk/60943-extended-life-for-esas-science-missions/ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) has confirmed the continued operations of ten scientific missions in the Agency's fleet up to 2022.
After a comprehensive review of their scientific merits and technical status, the SPC has decided to extend the operation of the five missions led by ESA's Science Programme: Cluster, Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, and XMM-Newton. The SPC also confirmed the Agency's contributions to the extended operations of Hinode, Hubble, IRIS, SOHO, and ExoMars TGO.
This includes the confirmation of operations for the 2019–2020 cycle for missions that had been given indicative extensions as part of the previous extension process, and indicative extensions for an additional two years, up to 2022 [1].
The decision was taken during the SPC meeting at ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre near Madrid, Spain, on 14 November.
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#4
by
bolun
on 14 Oct, 2020 20:16
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https://sci.esa.int/web/director-desk/-/extended-operations-confirmed-for-science-missionsESA's Science Programme Committee has confirmed the continued operations of five missions led by ESA's Science Programme: Cluster, Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, and XMM-Newton, from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2022. The SPC also confirmed the Science Programme's contributions to the extended operations of Hinode, Hubble Space Telescope, IRIS, SOHO, and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
The decision was taken during the SPC meeting held on 1 October and follows a comprehensive review of the scientific merits and technical status of the missions.
Indicative extensions to the operations of Gaia, Hinode, Hubble Space Telescope, IRIS, SOHO, and XMM-Newton, from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2025, subject to a mid-term review and subsequent SPC confirmation in 2022, were also approved at the meeting.
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#5
by
bolun
on 20 Mar, 2023 13:44
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https://sci.esa.int/web/director-desk/-/extended-life-for-esa-s-science-missionsESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) has confirmed the continued operations of ten scientific missions in the Agency's fleet.
After a comprehensive review of their scientific merits and technical status, the SPC has confirmed the continued operations of the missions led by ESA's Science Programme: Cluster, Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express and XMM-Newton. The SPC also confirmed the Agency's contributions to the extended operations of CHEOPS, Hinode, Hubble, IRIS, and SOHO.
The decision was taken during the SPC meeting in Antwerp, Belgium, on 7 March.
Like previous extension rounds, the meeting considered two periods: a first confirmation or extension period, for 2023–2026, and a second period (2027–2029) when a mission is considered for indicative extension[1,2].
ESA's science missions have unique capabilities and are prolific in their scientific output. The Space Science Advisory Committee found all the missions considered to have compelling science cases justifying a continuation of the operations during the 2023-2029 period. The SPC confirmed their continued operations, with a series of resolutions specific to the situation and context of each individual mission.
Gaia will exhaust its cold gas propellant (fundamental to carry out its precision pointing) in the second quarter of 2025 and will therefore transition to post-operations from mid-2025 onwards. Following the SPC decision to extend the Multilateral Agreement concerning Gaia data processing, the post-operations phase will be completed by 31 December 2030, ensuring the fourth and then final (fifth) data release.
The operations of XMM-Newton, ESA’s flagship x-ray observatory, are extended until December 2026, and indicatively until end of 2029.
The extension of three ESA-led missions, Cluster, Integral and Mars Express, all of which have been operational since over 20 years, were in jeopardy financially, as two new major missions (JUICE and Euclid) will be joining the fleet of missions in operations this year. For all three missions, ESA received strong and well-justified requests from the scientific community to extend the missions. ESA’s scientific advisory structure (the Astronomy Working Group, the Solar System Exploration Working Group, and the Space Science Advisory Committee) reviewed the science cases and supported further limited extensions. Thanks to some significant programmatic risks (related to JUICE and Euclid) having recently been retired, the SPC agreed to extend these three missions for a limited amount of time, using part of the Programme contingency in the years 2023-2025.
The Cluster scientific mission is extended until September 2024, when one of the four satellites will re-enter the Earth atmosphere. Two years of post-operations and monitoring of the spacecraft will follow, until re-entry of the last spacecraft in September 2026.
INTEGRAL science operations are extended until 31 December 2024, enabling support of the fourth international campaign of joint observations of gravitational waves by the network of instruments LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA, currently planned to start in May 2023 and lasting for 18 months. This will be followed by two years of post-operations and monitoring of the spacecraft until re-entry in February 2029.
The science operations of Mars Express are extended until end of 2026 and the SPC also approved the indicative extension of Mars Express from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028, enabling support to the JAXA-led Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. This will be followed by two years of post-operations; the extension to 2028 will be reviewed in 2025/2026, after MMX launch and arrival at Mars.
Regarding the contributions of ESA’s Science Programme to missions operated by partners, the SPC has approved the extension to 2026 and indicative extensions to 2029 of Hinode, Hubble, IRIS, and Cheops.
The contribution to SOHO is also confirmed throughout 2025, after which it will likely be phased out (following the launch of a next-generation solar mission), so it is assumed to transition to a two-year post-operations phase starting on 1 January 2026.
While the nominal operations of Solar Orbiter, BepiColombo and JWST finish in 2026 or 2027, a decision on their extension is considered premature given the recent start of their main operations and so it is deferred to the next cycle.
[1] Starting in 2022, the procedure for mission extensions foresees that the SPC will deliberate on extensions of missions in operations every three years and address all missions whose approved operations end within the following six years.
[2] All extensions are contingent on ongoing commitments and confirmations from national contributors and partners.