EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY INDUSTRIAL POLICY COMMITTEE Science Programme Technology Development Plan: Programme of Work for 2020 and 2021, and Related Procurement Plan SUMMARY This document presents the activities in the Science Core Technology Programme (CTP) and in the Technology Development Element (TDE, replacing the TRP) of the Discovery, Preparation & Technology Development Basic Activities supporting the implementation of ESA’s Science Programme. The national initiatives activities of relevance to the Science programme are provided for information. Activities funded through the Industrial Policy Task Forces (IPTFs) and of relevance to the Science Programme are also provided for information. June 2020 ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public Page intentionally left blank ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public 1 Background and Scope This document provides an update to the Science Programme Technology Development Plan (TDP). The plan contains the description of the technology development activities (TDAs) required for the technological preparation of all mission candidates in the Agency’s Science Programme. Critical mission-enabling developments that are generically applicable to several possible future space science missions are also addressed. This plan was first issued in 2008 as ESA/IPC(2008)33,add.1, and the last significant update was presented in ESA/IPC(2019)81.rev.1, approved by the IPC in November 2019. As regularly done for past versions of the plan, activities to be initiated by ESA in the year following the work plan approval are presented for a decision, while activities identified for potential implementation at a later stage are presented for information. When identified, national activities in support of payload developments are recommended for implementation under national funding. 2 Science Programme Missions The European Space Science Programme addresses a number of high-level science questions, originally described in the document “Cosmic Vision Space Science for Europe 2015-2025”. New missions are proposed by the science community and follow a thorough competitive process before being proposed for selection to the Science Programme Committee (SPC). This bottom-up selection process aims at scientific and technical excellence by identifying the best mission to implement at a given time and for specified budget and schedule boundaries. The current implementation status of the Science Programme is briefly recalled below. The first Call for Missions in the context of the Cosmic Vision plan was issued in March 2007 targeting one M-Class and one L-Class mission. This Call has ultimately led to the implementation of the M1, M2 and L1 missions: Solar Orbiter was selected as M1 and was launched in February 2020; Euclid was selected as M2 and is planned for launch in 2022; JUICE was selected as L1 and is also planned for launch in 2022. The second Call for Missions in the same framework was issued in July 2010 for the third M-Class mission (M3), and led to the implementation of PLATO, which is planned for launch in 2026. The Call for the fourth M mission (M4) has led to the selection of the ARIEL mission in March 2018. ARIEL is currently within Phase B1. The mission adoption is planned late 2020 and launch is targeted in 2028, together with Comet Interceptor. The Call for the fifth medium-sized mission opportunity (M5) was issued in April 2016 and resulted in selection of three candidate missions: EnVision (mission devoted to investigate the surface and subsurface of Venus, in collaboration with NASA); SPICA (mid- and far-infrared observatory using a 2.5 m cryogenic telescope following Herschel, in collaboration with JAXA); and THESEUS (mission devoted to Gamma Ray Burst measurements). Parallel Phase A studies for each of the candidate ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public missions were initiated early 2019 and the selection of the M5 mission is planned mid- 2021. Additionally, a Call for a small mission took place in 2012. Following the Call, CHEOPS was adopted by the SPC as the S1 mission in February 2014 and the industrial implementation contract was kicked-off mid-2014. CHEOPS was launched on a Soyuz rocket from Kourou as a passenger to a main spacecraft in December 2019. The Call for “Fast” mission was issued in July 2018 for a modest-sized mission to be launched as a passenger to ARIEL in 2028 on an Ariane 6.2 launcher. Following the scientific peer review of the proposals carried out in mid-2019, the Comet Interceptor mission was selected and is currently in Phase A/B, aiming at the mission adoption by 2022. In March 2013 ESA issued a Call to define the scientific themes of the Large missions L2 and L3, with envisaged launches before 2035, resulting in the selection of “the hot and energetic Universe” theme (to be addressed by an X-ray observatory) for L2, and “the gravitational Universe” theme (to be addressed by a gravitational wave observatory) for L3. The Call for mission proposals for the L2 launch opportunity was issued early 2014 and resulted in the selection in June 2014 of the Athena mission concept. Athena is an X- ray telescope with two focal plane instruments, a Wide Field Imager (WFI) and a Cryogenic X-ray Spectrometer (XIFU). The Athena Phase A study was completed in 2019, and is currently in the Phase B1, aiming at the mission adoption by mid-2022 and launch in 2032/2033 timeframe. The L3 Call for mission proposals was issued late 2016 and resulted in the selection of the LISA mission concept in June 2017, using laser interferometry for gravitational wave measurement, building on the successful demonstration achieved in orbit by LISA Pathfinder in 2016. The Phase A started in 2018, in parallel with the mission technology preparation, and is expected to be completed in 2021. The mission adoption date is planned in 2024. The overall implementation scheme for LISA and Athena will be discussed with the SPC at its July 2020 meeting. In January 2015 a joint ESA/Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) call for a small joint mission led to the selection of the SMILE mission. SMILE will provide for the first time global imaging of the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere of the Earth using innovative X-ray and UV instrumentation. Following the successful completion of Phase A/B, undertaken jointly by ESA and CAS, the mission was adopted in March 2019, with a planned launch in 2024. The Figure 1 summarises the Science Programme plan as of March 2020. An update to the plan will be discussed with the SPC at its July 2020 meeting. ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public Figure 1: ESA Science Programme Mission Plan Timeline Summary 3 Science Programme Technology Development Plan 3.1 Present Technology Development Plan Update This technology plan was defined, as for previous versions, using the ESA End-to-End technology management process as described in ESA/IPC(2005)39, involving a Technology Network (TECNET) of technical and mission experts from ESA. The proposed technological activities are based on: Critical technologies that were identified based on internal ESA studies. ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public Technology development activities identified by industry in the course of the mission candidates assessment studies. Technology development activities identified by the science community, through studies done by institutes or consortia in parallel to the industrial studies. An assessment of the technological needs and maturity with respect to on-going running activities, urgency and funding availability. The new activities are addressing the L missions Athena (L2) and LISA (L3), Ariel, Comet Interceptor and technologies applicable to several missions. 3.2 Implementation Principles and Payload-Related Activities A guiding principle of the Science Programme is that critical basic technology developments of the spacecraft and science instruments must be completed before entering the Definition Phase. As a general rule, Technology Readiness Level 5-6 (in ISO scale) is expected for both the space segment and the payload at the start of the Implementation Phase. A summary of the current assumptions on the payload procurement scheme is provided in Table 1 for the M and L missions. Category A = ESA-provided payload; Category B = payload provided by Member States; Category C = payload shared between ESA and Member States. Mission Payload Member State Provision ESA Payload Provision Category Athena C Focal plane instrumentation: X-ray telescope (L2 mission) Wide Field Imager (Silicon Pore Optics) X-ray Spectrometer Cryogenic cooling chain for X- (with JAXA and NASA ray spectrometer contributions) (with possible contributions from partners) LISA C Optical bench, Gravitational Telescope, Laser system (L3 Mission) Reference Sensor, (with possible contributions Phasemeter from NASA) ARIEL B Complete payload V-grooves, AIRS detectors (M4 mission) complement, including cryogenic PLM and warm payload units. SMILE C Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), PLM overall responsibility (ESA-CAS UV Imager (UVI led by mission) Canada), MAG and LIA instruments are provided by CAS Comet B Complete payload Interceptor (F mission) Table 1: Assumptions for the payload provision of the selected missions in the preparation phase. Category A = ESA-provided payload; Category B = payload provided by the Member States; Category C = payload shared between ESA and Member States It is assumed that the Member States will be in charge of the technology developments of the instruments they plan to provide, while ESA will implement the technology developments related to the rest of the spacecraft and payload elements remaining under ESA responsibility. A good coordination between the technology developments under ESA UNCLASSIFIED – Releasable to the Public Member States and ESA responsibility is imperative, thereby avoiding duplication of effort, enabling identification of missing activities and providing ESA with visibility of the payload development. 3.3 Budgets and Implementation Aspects The ESA technology development activities in the Science Programme mainly rely on the CTP and TDE technology budgets and are submitted to the Industrial Policy Committee (IPC) for approval and implementation.