January 1, 2024
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Proceedings Paper
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The telescope assembly of the Ariel space mission: an updated overview

Publicated to: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 13092 130921C- - 2024-01-01, DOI: 10.1117/12.3018735

Authors:

Pace, Emanuele; Abreur, Manuel Adler; Alonso, Gustavo; Barroqueiro, Bruno; Bocchieri, Andrea; Brienza, Daniele; Brucalassi, Anna; Chioetto, Paolo; Compostizo, Carlos; Cortecchia, Fausto; D'Anca, Fabio; Del Vecchio, Ciro; Di Lai, Emiliano; Eccleston, Paul; Fahmy, Salma; Fernandes, Jose; Fernandez Soler, Alejandro; Ferruzzi, Debora; Focardi, Mauro; Freitas, Sara; Galyn, Camille; Garcia Moreno, Laura; Garcia Perez, Andres; Gottini, Daniele; Guerrieri, Elisa; Halain, Jean-Philippe; Hellin, Marie-Laure; Jollet, Delphine; Lilli, Riccardo; Malaguti, Giuseppe; Marti, Laura; Mazzoni, Alexandra; Micela, Giuseppina; Morgante, Gianluca; Naponiello, Luca; Noced, Vladimiro; Pascale, Enzo; Perez Alvarez, Javier; Piazzo, Raffaele; Picci, Paolo; Preta, Giampaolo; Rousse, Stephane; Salatti, Mario; Salvoignot, Jean-Christophe; Scipioni, Antonio; Serre, Christophe; Terenzia, Luca; Tinetti, Giovanna; Di Vignano, Elisabetta Tommasi; Tozzi, Andrea; Vandenbussche, Bart; Zuppella, Paola
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Affiliations

Act Space Technol SA, Parque Ind Taveiro,Lote 12 - Author
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI, Via Politecn Snc - Author
CNR, Ist Foton & Nanotecnol Padova, Via Trasea 7 - Author
ESA ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1 - Author
INAF Osservatorio Astrofis & Sci Spazio Bologna, Via Piero Gobetti 93-3 - Author
INAF Osservatorio Astrofis Arcetri, Largo E Fermi 5 - Author
INAF Osservatorio Astrofis Pino Torinese, Via Osservatorio 20 - Author
INAF Osservatorio Astron Palermo, Piazza Parlamento 1 - Author
Inst Estudis Espacials Catalunya, Gran Capita 2-4,Edifici Nexus,Desp 201 - Author
Katholieke Univ Leuven, Inst Sterrenkunde, Celestijnenlaan 200D Bus 2401 - Author
Sener Aerosp, Zugatzarte Etorb 56, Getxo 48930 - Author
STFC Rutherford Appleton Lab, RAL Space, Didcot OX11 0QX - Author
UCL, Dept Phys & Astron, Gower St - Author
Univ Firenze, Dip Ingn Ind, Via Santa Marta 3 - Author
Univ Liege, Ctr Spatial Liege, Ave Pre Aily - Author
Univ Lisbon, Inst Astrophys & Space Sci - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, Plaza Cardenal Cisneros 3 - Author
Univ Roma La Sapienza, Dip Fis, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2 - Author
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Abstract

Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large Survey) is the adopted M4 mission in the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision program. Its purpose is to survey the atmospheres of known exoplanets through transit spectroscopy. The launch is scheduled for 2029. The scientific payload consists of an off-axis, unobscured Cassegrain telescope feeding a set of photometers and spectrometers in the waveband 0.5-7.8 mu m and operating at cryogenic temperatures (55 K). The Telescope Assembly is based on an innovative fully aluminium design to tolerate thermal variations to avoid impacts on the optical performance; it consists of a primary parabolic mirror with an elliptical aperture of 1.1 m (the major axis), followed by a hyperbolic secondary that is mounted on a refocusing system, a parabolic re-collimating tertiary and a flat folding mirror directing the output beam parallel to the optical bench. An innovative mounting system based on 3 flexure hinges supports the primary mirror on one of the optical bench sides. The instrument bay on the other side of the optical bench houses the Ariel IR Spectrometer (AIRS) and the Fine Guidance System / NIR Spectrometer (FGS/NIRSpec). The Telescope Assembly is in phase B2 towards the Critical Design Review; the fabrication of the structural and engineering models has started; some components, i.e., the primary mirror and its mounting system are undergoing further qualification activities. This paper aims to update the scientific community on the progress concerning the development, manufacturing and qualification activity of the ARIEL Telescope Assembly.
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Keywords

Aluminum mirrorAriel missionCassegrainCryogenic telescopeInfrared telescopeSpace telescope

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Q4 Agency Scopus (SJR), its regional focus and specialization in Instrumentation, give it significant recognition in a specific niche of scientific knowledge at an international level.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-11-12:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 2
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-11-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 2.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 2 (PlumX).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Belgium; Italy; Netherlands; Portugal; United Kingdom.

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Project objectives

Los objetivos perseguidos en esta aportación se centran en proporcionar una actualización detallada sobre el desarrollo del ensamblaje del telescopio de la misión espacial Ariel. Se pretende analizar el diseño innovador completamente de aluminio para tolerar variaciones térmicas y preservar el rendimiento óptico. Además, se busca describir la configuración óptica compuesta por el espejo primario parabólico de 1.1 m, el secundario hiperbólico con sistema de reenfoque, el terciario parabólico y el espejo plegable. Otro objetivo es evaluar el sistema de montaje basado en tres bisagras flexibles que soportan el espejo primario. Finalmente, se pretende informar sobre el estado actual en fase B2, incluyendo la fabricación de modelos estructurales y la calificación de componentes clave, con vistas a la Revisión Crítica de Diseño prevista para 2029.
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Most relevant results

La aportación presenta avances significativos en el desarrollo del conjunto telescópico de la misión espacial Ariel, prevista para su lanzamiento en 2029. Los resultados más relevantes incluyen: el diseño innovador totalmente en aluminio que asegura la tolerancia a variaciones térmicas y mantiene el rendimiento óptico; la configuración óptica compuesta por un espejo primario parabólico con apertura elíptica de 1,1 m, un secundario hiperbólico con sistema de reenfoque, un terciario parabólico y un espejo plegador plano; el sistema de montaje del espejo primario basado en tres bisagras flexibles; la integración del espectrómetro infrarrojo Ariel (AIRS) y el sistema de guía fina/espectrómetro NIR (FGS/NIRSpec) en la bahía del instrumento; y el avance hacia la revisión crítica de diseño (fase B2) con la fabricación y cualificación en curso de modelos estructurales y componentes clave.
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