Spektr-UV
Russian-led international ultraviolet space telescope project.
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Spektr-UV, also known as the World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV), is a proposed ultraviolet space telescope designed to observe in the 115 nm to 315 nm wavelength range. Led by Russia's Roscosmos, the project includes international participation from Spain and Japan. Originally planned for launch in 2007, the mission has faced repeated delays, with the current expectation as of January 2026 being a launch no earlier than 2031 aboard an Angara A5M rocket from Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Overview
The observatory's main instrument is a 1.7-metre Ritchey–Chrétien telescope. It carries the WUVS spectrographs assembly, which comprises four channels: the Vacuum Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrograph (VUVES) from Russia, providing high-resolution echelle spectroscopy (R ~ 50,000) in the 115–176 nm range; the Ultraviolet Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) from Russia, offering similar resolution in the 174–310 nm range; the Long-Slit Spectrograph (LSS) from Russia, delivering low-resolution (R ~ 1000) long-slit spectroscopy from 115–305 nm with spatial resolution better than 0.5 arcsec (best value 0.1 arcsec); and the UV Spectrograph for observation of Earth-like Exoplanets (UVSPEX) from Japan.
Additional instruments include the Stellar Coronograph for Exoplanet Direct Imaging (SCEDI) from Japan. Germany originally contributed the HIRDES spectrograph but exited the programme due to financial problems, leading Russia to replace it with WUVES. Spain canceled its ISSIS instrument for financial reasons, limiting its participation to the ground segment and detector supply for the FCU; Russia replaced ISSIS with the FCU.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Spektr-UV (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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