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Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesDean's Office, Faculty of Arts and HumanitiesJakobi 2, r 116-121 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of History and ArchaeologyJakobi 2 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Estonian and General LinguisticsJakobi 2, IV korrus 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Philosophy and SemioticsJakobi 2, III korrus, ruumid 302-337 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Cultural ResearchÜlikooli 16 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Foreign Languages and CulturesLossi 3 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of Theology and Religious StudiesÜlikooli 18 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Viljandi Culture AcademyPosti 1 71004 Viljandi linn, Viljandimaa EST0Professors emeritus, Faculty of Arts and Humanities0Associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Arts and Humanities0Faculty of Social SciencesDean's Office, Faculty of Social SciencesLossi 36 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of EducationJakobi 5 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Johan Skytte Institute of Political StudiesLossi 36, ruum 301 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of Economics and Business AdministrationNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of PsychologyNäituse 2 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0School of LawNäituse 20 - 324 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Social StudiesLossi 36 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Narva CollegeRaekoja plats 2 20307 Narva linn, Ida-Virumaa EST0Pärnu CollegeRingi 35 80012 Pärnu linn, Pärnu linn, Pärnumaa EST0Professors emeritus, Faculty of Social Sciences0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Social Sciences0Faculty of MedicineDean's Office, Faculty of MedicineRavila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Biomedicine and Translational MedicineBiomeedikum, Ravila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of PharmacyNooruse 1 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of DentistryL. Puusepa 1a 50406 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Clinical MedicineL. Puusepa 8 50406 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Family Medicine and Public HealthRavila 19 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Sport Sciences and PhysiotherapyUjula 4 51008 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTprofessors emeritus, Faculty of Medicine0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Medicine0Faculty of Science and TechnologyDean's Office, Faculty of Science and TechnologyVanemuise 46 - 208 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Computer ScienceNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of GenomicsRiia 23b/2 51010 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTEstonian Marine Institute0Institute of PhysicsInstitute of ChemistryRavila 14a 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Mathematics and StatisticsNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Institute of Molecular and Cell BiologyRiia 23, 23b - 134 51010 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTTartu ObservatoryObservatooriumi 1 61602 Tõravere alevik, Nõo vald, Tartumaa EST0Institute of TechnologyNooruse 1 50411 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTInstitute of Ecology and Earth SciencesJ. Liivi tn 2 50409 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTprofessors emeritus, Faculty of Science and Technology0associate Professors emeritus, Faculty of Science and Technology0Area of Academic SecretaryHuman Resources OfficeÜlikooli 18, ruumid 302 ja 304 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of Head of FinanceFinance Office0Area of Director of AdministrationInformation Technology Office0Administrative OfficeÜlikooli 17 (III korrus) 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Estates Office0Marketing and Communication OfficeÜlikooli 18, ruumid 102, 104, 209, 210 50090 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of Vice Rector for ResearchUniversity of Tartu LibraryW. Struve 1 50091 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTGrant OfficeArea of Vice Rector for DevelopmentCentre for Entrepreneurship and InnovationNarva mnt 18 51009 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Botanical GardenVanemuise 46 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0International Cooperation and Protocol Office0University of Tartu MuseumLossi 25 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Area of RectorRector's Strategy OfficeInternal Audit OfficeArea of Vice Rector for Academic AffairsOffice of Academic AffairsUniversity of Tartu Youth AcademyUppsala 10 51003 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa ESTStudent Union OfficeÜlikooli 18b 51005 Tartu linn, Tartu linn, Tartumaa EST0Centre for Learning and Teaching
Airbus will build exoplanet satellite for ESA's Ariel mission involving Estonian researchers
The European Space Agency (ESA) and Airbus have signed a contract to move forward with the design and construction of the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (Ariel). Work on the Ariel payload module is already well underway by the Ariel Mission Consortium, which includes Tarty Observatory's Associate Professor in Stellar Physics Anna Aret as a member of the co-PI board. The consortium and Airbus will be working closely together to deliver the mission for launch in 2029.
Ariel will study the composition of exoplanets, how they formed and how they evolve, by surveying a diverse sample of about 1000 planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets, simultaneously in visible and infrared wavelengths. Tartu Observatory's researchers will be doing the the necessary prestudies to guarantee the success of the mission. They will observe the host stars of exoplanets, which need to be known well in order to Ariel's measurements to be accurate.
It is the first mission dedicated to measuring the chemical composition and thermal structures of exoplanets, linking them to the host star’s environment. This will fill a significant gap in our knowledge of how the planet’s chemistry is linked to the environment where it formed, or if and how the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s evolution.
"With this milestone for the Ariel mission we celebrate the continuation of the outstanding relationship with our industry partners to keep Europe at the forefront of excellence in the field of exoplanet research well into the next decade and beyond," says Günther Hasinger, ESA's Director of Science. The contract was celebrated between the two parties with a small ceremony at ESA headquarters in Paris on 6 December.
Airbus will lead the European industrial consortium building the satellite bus. The Toulouse facility in France will be the main site for designing, manufacturing and integrating the spacecraft elements, while Airbus Stevenage in the UK will lead the engineering of the avionics, radio frequency communication and electrical design of the platform.
"Airbus has extensive experience of leading ground-breaking science missions, including Juice, Gaia, Solar Orbiter, Lisa Pathfinder and Cheops, on which we are building for ESA’s latest science mission, Ariel," said Jean-Marc Nasr, head of Space Systems at Airbus.
The mission’s payload module, which includes a one metre-class cryogenic telescope and associated science instruments, is provided by the Ariel Mission Consortium. The consortium comprises more than 50 institutes from 17 European countries. NASA also contributes to the payload. In 2021 the Consortium completed ten reviews covering each of the payload subsystems to ensure that the teams understand what needs to be built and that the preliminary designs for each part are feasible and, crucially, will work together correctly.
"The international Ariel Mission Consortium been making fantastic progress with the payload. We are looking forward to working closely with Airbus to ensure the payload works perfectly on board the spacecraft. Together we will be enabling amazing new discoveries about planets beyond our Solar System," said Paul Eccleston, Ariel Mission Consortium Project Manager and RAL Space Chief Engineer.
The spacecraft is anticipated to launch on ESA’s new Ariane 6, together with the Comet Interceptor mission. It will operate from orbit around the second Lagrange point (L2), 1.5 million kilometres directly ‘behind’ Earth as viewed from the Sun, on an initial four year mission. Thanks to its very stable thermal and mechanical design, the spacecraft will be able to carry out long term observations of the exoplanet system s for a duration s of between 10 hours and up to 3 days.
Further information: Anna Aret, Associate Professor in Stellar Physics at Tartu Observatory, 737 4519, anna.aret@ut.ee
More about Estonian participation in the project