SPICA (spacecraft)
Proposed ESA-JAXA infrared telescope for cosmology and astrophysics.
SPICA, short for Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics, was a planned infrared space telescope designed as a successor to the Akari observatory. A joint European-Japanese project, it became a finalist in May 2018 for ESA's next Medium class M5 mission under the Cosmic Vision program, targeting a 2032 launch. Competing against THESEUS and EnVision—the latter eventually chosen—SPICA aimed to achieve 50 to 100 times better spectral line sensitivity than Spitzer and Herschel across 30 to 230 μm. However, by October 2020, it was dropped from M5 consideration.
Quick Facts
- Operator
- ESA; JAXA
- Mission duration
- 3 years (science mission); 5 years (design goal)
- Launch mass
- 3,650 kg / 8,047 lb
- Payload mass
- 600 kg / 1,323 lb
- Dimensions
- 5.9 x 4.5 m / 14 ft 9 in
- Power
- 3 kW (4.02 hp) from a 14 m / 45 ft 11 in; 2; solar array
- Launched
- 2032
- Launch rocket
- H3
Facts from the source article.
History
SPICA was first put forward in Japan in 2007 under the name HII-L2, referencing its planned rocket and orbit, as a large-scale Strategic L-class mission. It was also submitted to ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme in Europe, but a late-2009 internal ESA review found its technology insufficiently mature. In May 2018, the mission became one of three finalists for the Cosmic Vision M5 medium-class competition, with a target launch in 2032 and a cost limit of 550 million euros. SPICA was removed from M5 consideration in October 2020 because of budget limitations.
Overview
The concept was a collaboration between ESA and JAXA. If funded, the telescope would have been launched on JAXA's H3 launch vehicle. The Ritchey–Chrétien telescope's 2.5-metre mirror, smaller than that of the Herschel Space Observatory, would have been made of silicon carbide. The main mission would have been the study of star and planetary formation, detecting stellar nurseries in galaxies, protoplanetary discs around young stars, and exoplanets, helped by its own coronograph.
Description
SPICA was a proposed space observatory designed to study the universe in infrared light, particularly at longer wavelengths than the James Webb Space Telescope could reach. It would have been placed in a halo orbit around the L2 point and carried a far-infrared spectrometer. Instead of using liquid helium, its 2.5-meter Ritchey–Chrétien telescope relied on V-groove radiators and mechanical cryocoolers to keep its mirror below 8 Kelvin. This cooling method gave it far greater sensitivity in the 10 to 100 micrometer infrared band—more than a hundred times better than both the Spitzer and Herschel space telescopes. The telescope had a 30 arc-minute field of view. Its focal-plane instruments included the SPICA Mid-infrared Instrument (SMI), covering 12 to 36 micrometers with three sub-modes: low-resolution spectroscopy (17–36 µm) for detecting PAH dust and minerals in planet-forming regions; mid-resolution spectroscopy (18–36 µm) for characterizing distant galaxies; and high-resolution spectroscopy (12–18 µm) for studying molecular gas dynamics. The SAFARI instrument covered 35 to 230 micrometers. B-BOP, an imaging polarimeter, operated at 100, 200, and 350 micrometers to map magnetic fields in Galactic filaments and star-forming structures.
More in Space Probes of ESA, Japan, China, India and the USSR
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