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| PEGASE | |
|---|---|
| Name | PEGASE |
| Type | Space-based interferometer |
| Operator | European Space Agency |
| Country | France |
| Status | Proposed |
| Launch | Proposed |
PEGASE
PEGASE was a proposed space-based optical interferometer concept developed for high-angular-resolution astronomy and exoplanet detection. The project involved collaborations among European institutions including CNES, ESA, and research groups from observatories and universities, aiming to complement missions such as Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, and ground facilities like the Very Large Telescope and the Keck Observatory. The concept drew on heritage from projects including Darwin (spacecraft), Terrestrial Planet Finder, and technology demonstrators from CNES and national laboratories.
The PEGASE concept envisaged a free-flying interferometric observatory to perform high-contrast imaging and spectroscopy of nearby stars, circumstellar disks, and extrasolar planets, leveraging technologies advanced by European Space Agency, CNES, Centre National d'Études Spatiales, Observatoire de Paris, and university groups such as Università di Padova and Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris. It was intended to operate in complementary wavelength bands to facilities such as Spitzer Space Telescope, Herschel Space Observatory, and future missions like LUVOIR and HabEx. The initiative was discussed in the context of strategic roadmaps produced by organizations including ESA Science Programme Committee and advisory bodies like Committee on Space Research.
The PEGASE concept originated from studies in the early 2000s within national and European research programs involving teams at CNRS, CNES, Max Planck Society, and university laboratories across France, Italy, and Germany. Early feasibility work referenced mission studies such as Darwin (spacecraft) by ESA and Terrestrial Planet Finder led by NASA, as well as interferometry heritage from VLTI projects at European Southern Observatory. Workshops at institutions including Observatoire de Paris, ESA ESTEC, and conferences organized by SPIE and American Astronomical Society fostered technical exchange. Funding discussions involved national agencies like Centre National d'Études Spatiales and coordination with programmes overseen by European Space Agency Science Programme Committee.
PEGASE was designed as a flotilla of small free-flying spacecraft forming a variable baseline optical interferometer, with concepts drawing on technologies used by missions such as PROBA and concepts from SMART-1. The architecture proposed collector spacecraft feeding a beam-combining spacecraft, similar in concept to designs considered by Darwin (spacecraft) and Terrestrial Planet Finder. Key subsystems referenced technologies from companies and organizations including Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia Space, and research laboratories at Observatoire de Paris, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Optical train design incorporated coronagraphic techniques related to work at European Southern Observatory and spectrometers with heritage from instruments on Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. Metrology and formation flying concepts leveraged studies associated with PROBA-3 and guidance from European Space Operations Centre.
The science case emphasized high-contrast imaging and mid-infrared spectroscopy of nearby main-sequence stars to detect and characterize exozodiacal dust, protoplanetary and debris disks, and directly study giant exoplanets, building on discoveries from Kepler mission, HARPS, COROT, and follow-up by SOPHIE (spectrograph). PEGASE aimed to measure atmospheric signatures (molecular bands) similar to objectives pursued by James Webb Space Telescope and proposed for LUVOIR and HabEx, enabling investigations of chemical composition linked to studies by ALMA, Spitzer Space Telescope, and ground-based high-contrast imagers like SPHERE. Science teams referenced surveys and catalogs maintained by institutions such as European Southern Observatory and Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg to assemble target lists and synergies with facilities including Very Large Telescope Interferometer and CHARA Array.
Operations planning considered distributed mission control involving European Space Operations Centre and science data centres similar to those for Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope. Formation flying maneuvers and metrology would have required procedures analogous to those developed for PROBA-3 with command sequences maintained by organizations such as ESA and industry partners including Airbus Defence and Space. Data processing pipelines were to draw on algorithms and frameworks developed for interferometry projects at European Southern Observatory, data reduction methods used by teams from Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and archive practices similar to Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes. Calibration and simulation tools referenced software from SPIE conferences and modeling work by groups at Observatoire de Paris.
Although PEGASE did not advance to a flight project, its studies influenced technology roadmaps and contributed to European expertise in space interferometry, formation flying, coronagraphy, and mid-infrared instrumentation alongside developments at ESA, CNES, and research institutes such as Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Lessons informed later mission concepts and proposals coordinated with European Space Agency Science Programme Committee and national agencies, impacting planning for future flagship missions like LUVOIR and HabEx as well as technology demonstrators such as PROBA-3 and instruments on Very Large Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.
Category:Proposed space observatories Category:Space interferometry