Scottish-built laser technology will play a part in a space mission that aims to uncover the mysteries of the Big Bang theory and the origins of the universe.
New optical benches will be constructed at a lab facility in Edinburgh to send and receive laser beams over a 2.5 million kilometre distance between spacecraft and Earth to help scientists engaged in gravitational research.
A new £10 million facility will be constructed at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in the city, and will play an integral part in a future mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The laboratory, funded by the UK Government’s investments in ESA, will be used to assemble the optical benches for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission.
To meet mission deadlines ESA is supporting the construction of the new lab and clean rooms at the Science and Technology Facility Council’s UK ATC site in Edinburgh. This £10 million ESA contract will double UK ATC’s construction capabilities, and build on existing support from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and its membership of ESA.
LISA is ESA’s next flagship project and will be the first ever gravitational wave observatory in space. The optical benches are a crucial component of this complex mission.
The optical benches send and receive laser beams over a 2.5 million kilometre distance between LISA’s three spacecraft, enabling measurement of distance changes between them with an accuracy of a few picometres (trillionths of a metre).
Work has already begun on the optical benches at UK ATC. The assembly process utilises Robotically Assisted Bonding (RAB), developed by UK ATC and the University of Glasgow and funded by UKSA.
The RAB system was developed as the highly accurate positioning and bonding of components in the construction of the optical benches would be impossible by hand or any previously used technique.
RAB can achieve positional accuracy of just a few microns (one millionth of a metre).
Considering the exactitude required, assembling the optical benches is an incredibly complex and meticulous job. Constructing the 10 required, including prototypes and spares, will take approximately 8 years.
Ewan Fitzsimons, UK principal investigator for LISA at UK ATC, said: “This investment in labs and staff will enable us to meet the exacting standards required for this groundbreaking project. It not only enhances our technical capabilities but also underscores the critical role of precision engineering in complex space missions such as LISA.”
Filippo Marliani, ESA’s LISA project manager, said: “LISA, an ESA-led mission with contributions from ESA Member States and NASA, will be the first space observatory for gravitational waves, revolutionising astrophysics and space exploration. The UK Astronomy Technology Centre, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, contribute to this unique mission with ultra-precision optical benches that sit at the heart of the three LISA spacecraft. A new integration facility will boost production, ensuring timely completion of the spacecraft. I very much look forward to working with the UK team.”
LISA will be the first gravitational wave observatory in space. Each of the three spacecraft will include two optical benches built in the labs at UK ATC in Edinburgh.
All three satellites will launch on the same rocket. During their 18-month voyage to their new home 60-70 million kilometres from Earth, the spacecraft will diverge until they reach their final positions forming an equilateral triangle 2.5 million kilometres from each other.
Using these Scottish-built optical benches, the three LISA spacecraft will relay laser beams back and forth between each other to detect the distortions of spacetime created by gravitational wave sources such as merging black holes or supernovae, providing insights on the formation of the early Universe, shortly after the Big Bang.