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LOFT is an M-class mission candidate for the M3 slot within the Cosmic Vision programme, for a planned launch between 2022 and 2024. LOFT, with 3 other science missions, was recommended by the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) to enter an assessment study (Phase 0), starting by an ESA internal study followed by parallel industrial study activities.

Within the M3 boundary conditions, the readiness for launch by end 2022/2024 is a severe requirement which in practice requires designing the space segment without major technology developments and with minimum developments risks. Therefore, only technologies with estimated Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of at least 5 by the end of the Phase A (estimated at the end of 2014) may be used.

This document aims at providing a complete and comprehensive list of all high level mission requirements (including S/C and payload, launcher, ground segment and operations) necessary to achieve the science goals detailed in [LOFT Science Requirements Document (SciRD), SRE-SA/LOFT/2011-001, Issue 1, Rev. 7]. Accordingly it is an applicable document that shall be complied with for all mission design activities. The MRD will be further reviewed matching the results of future study phases (e.g. definition phase) to finally evolve into the System Requirements Document at the start of the implementation phase.

This document presents the activities in the Basic Technology Research Programme (TRP) and in the Science Core Technology Programme (CTP) supporting the implementation of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Plan. The Strategic Initiatives (StrIn) activities and national initiatives activities of relevance to the Science Programme are provided for information.

This document is provided for information only and is subject to future updates.

This Payload Definition Document describes the consolidated instrument designs of the Large Area Detector (LAD) and the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) proposed for LOFT. The current issue (2.0) describes the status of the instruments at the time of the Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the LOFT mission study phase.

Made available online before print publication

High-time-resolution X-ray observations of compact objects provide direct access to strong-field gravity, to the equation of state of ultradense matter and to black hole masses and spins. A 10 m²-class instrument in combination with good spectral resolution is required to exploit the relevant diagnostics and answer two of the fundamental questions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Cosmic Vision Theme "Matter under extreme conditions", namely: does matter orbiting close to the event horizon follow the predictions of general relativity? What is the equation of state of matter in neutron stars? The Large Observatory For X-ray Timing (LOFT), selected by ESA as one of the four Cosmic Vision M3 candidate missions to undergo an assessment phase, will revolutionise the study of collapsed objects in our galaxy and of the brightest supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. Thanks to an innovative design and the development of large-area monolithic silicon drift detectors, the Large Area Detector (LAD) on board LOFT will achieve an effective area of ~12 m² (more than an order of magnitude larger than any spaceborne predecessor) in the 2-30 keV range (up to 50 keV in expanded mode), yet still fits a conventional platform and small/medium-class launcher. With this large area and a spectral resolution of <260 eV, LOFT will yield unprecedented information on strongly curved spacetimes and matter under extreme conditions of pressure and magnetic field strength.

This document records the scientific requirements for the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT). These are the reference requirements through which the Mission Requirements Document will be derived.

The current version includes results from some detailed simulations of the instrument performance; however in a few areas the simulations and discussions are on-going, hence some numbers may need to be updated in the future. Where we think that these studies may result in an update of the specifications we have indicated this by a TBC. In other cases we expect that the requirements are relative mature. The observatory goals are not yet complete as detailed discussions about these are also pending.

The first issue of this document served as a starting point for an ESA-internal study in the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). It was left unchanged for the industrial studies, but underwent a few updates driven both by the industrial studies and the payload-related studies.

In case of the selection of this mission for implementation, another update of the document may be required to reflect updates in the scientific progress during the time of the study, resulting in an Issue 2.

STE-QUEST is an M-class mission candidate for the M3 slot within the Cosmic Vision programme, for a planned launch between 2022 and 2024. STE-QUEST, with 3 other science missions, was recommended by the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) to enter an assessment study (Phase 0), starting by an ESA internal study followed by parallel industrial study activities. Within the M3 boundary conditions, the readiness for launch by end 2022/2024 is a severe requirement which in practice requires designing the space segment without major technology developments and with minimum developments risks. Therefore, only technologies with estimated Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of at least 5 by the end of the Phase A (estimated at the end of 2014) may be used.

This document aims at providing a complete and comprehensive list of all high level mission requirements (including spacecraft and payload, launcher, ground segment and operations) necessary to achieve the science goals detailed in [STE-QUEST Science Requirements Document, FPM-SA-Dc-00001]. It is hence an applicable document that shall be complied with for all mission design activities. The MRD will be further reviewed matching the results of future study phases (e.g. definition phase) to finally evolve in the System Requirements Document at the start of the implementation phase.

This document presents the scientific objectives of the ESA mission STE-QUEST and provides the top level science requirements. STE-QUEST is a mission in the Fundamental Physics domain conceived to test to high accuracy the different aspects of the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP). The scientific case described in this document was initially recommended by the ESA-appointed "Fundamental Physics Roadmap Advisory Team" (FPR-AT) as a result of a large consultation process conducted in the fundamental physics community [FPR-AT, A Roadmap for Fundamental Physics in Space, (2010)]. Submitted in reply to the 2010 Call for Medium-size Missions for the Cosmic Vision plan, STE-QUEST was recommended by the ESA advisory structure and finally selected for an assessment study.

This Science Requirements Document (SciRD) will be the basis for the STE-QUEST mission design during the assessment study phase which started in April 2011 and will be concluded with the presentation of the assessment study results to the ESA advisory structure in mid-2013. During the assessment phase, it is expected that the requirements may be adjusted driven by technical feasibility within the programmatic boundaries. The STE-QUEST Study Science Team will act as the review and control board for changes in this document. The possible changes will be logged in this document to provide a record of the evolution.

This document also aims at showing the links between science requirements and mission performance requirements, in order to help to understand, trace, and support the analysis of the relation between mission specifications and scientific objectives.

This is a Mission Requirements Document (MRD) to be used as an Applicable Document in the MarcoPolo-R industrial assessment study. The purpose of the MRD is to provide all high-level mission-level requirements (including spacecraft and payload, launcher, ground segment and operations) necessary to achieve the science goals detailed in [MarcoPolo-R Science Requirements Document (SRD)] for the MarcoPolo-R industrial system design studies running through 2012/2013.

It includes functional and performance requirements down to the sub-system level which can be defined at this stage. Later on in the course of the definition phase, it will result into two self-standing documents, i.e. the Mission Requirements Document and the System Requirements Document.

Recording and tracking of changes as well as giving a brief rationale is very important. The traceability of the requirements is paramount in order to make this document and its associated requirements easy to read and to understand at any stage of the mission assessment and possibly later definition phase, should this mission be selected.

This is issue 3.2 of the MRD. It has been updated after the baseline selection review in the course of the assessment phase. It will be reviewed as part of the assessment phase and will be updated following the Preliminary Requirement Review at the end of 2013.

EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) is an M-class mission candidate for the M3 slot within the Cosmic Vision programme, for a planned launch between 2022 and 2024. EChO, with 3 other science missions, was recommended by the Space Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) to enter an assessment study (Phase 0), starting by an ESA internal study followed by parallel industrial study activities.

Within the M3 boundary conditions, the readiness for launch by 2022/2024 is a severe requirement which in practice requires designing the space segment without major technology developments and with minimum developments risks. Therefore, only technologies with estimated Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of at least 5 by the end of the Phase A (estimated at the end of 2014) may be used.

This document aims at providing a complete and comprehensive list of all high level mission requirements (including spacecraft and payload, launcher, ground segment and operations) necessary to achieve the science goals detailed in [EChO SciRD (Science Requirements Document), SRE-PA/2011.037/]. It is hence an applicable document that all mission design activities shall comply with. The MRD will be further reviewed matching the results of future study phases (e.g. definition phase) to finally evolve in the System Requirements Document at the start of the implementation phase.

This document aims at providing the description of the EChO reference payload complement. The payload complement comprises the following elements:

• The telescope
• The common optics, common in the sense that all alternative instrument designs must use this same set of fore-optics
• The instruments:
  • The science instrument, defined as a spectrometer covering the complete wavelength range required in [EChO MRD (Mission Requirements Document), SRE-PA/2011.038/]. This wavelength range is split into different science channels.
  • The Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS, acting as a non-scientific instrument), also required in [EChO MRD (Mission Requirements Document), SRE-PA/2011.038/] to answer the pointing needs of the spacecraft.

This document provides the top-level science requirements for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO), a dedicated mission to investigate exoplanetary atmospheres. The EChO mission was proposed to ESA in response to the M3 call in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme, and was selected for assessment in February 2011. The mission in turn builds on a concept for an Exoplanet Spectroscopy Mission (ESM) that was recommended by the Exoplanetary RoadMap Advisory Team (EPRAT) in 2009/2010 for study by ESA. The science requirements were initially derived from the science objectives described in the EChO M3 proposal and have been refined and updated following discussions between the EChO science team and the ESA internal study team. This document was first written as input to the CDF study starting in June 2011. It has been updated continuously since, and will be refined over the course of the assessment study. The aim of this document is to detail the science requirements for all aspects of the mission. As such, the document provides a means by which to understand, trace and support a detailed analysis of the relationship between the science objectives of the mission and the specification of the mission and payload.

This document describes the Payload of STE-QUEST, a mission in the Fundamental Physics domain conceived to test to high accuracy the different aspects of the Einstein Equivalence Principle. This document derives directly from the STE-QUEST Science Requirements Document and STE-QUEST Mission Requirements Document. It also integrates elements included in the STE-QUEST proposal (and associated reference documents), the STE-QUEST CDF Study and the STE-QUEST Instruments Mid-Term Review datapackages.

This document provides the baseline description of the payload, its instruments, supporting units and interfaces, as defined at the beginning of the STE-QUEST assessment study. It shall be consolidated as part of the study and shall be formally updated at the end of it. This is the first revision of the document, following the completion and closure of the Instruments mid-term Review held in May 2011.

Reference: SRE-PA/2011/117

L1 Mission Reformulation, ATHENA

This report summarises the findings of the ESA review on the reformulation of IXO, the International X-ray Observatory (L class mission candidate of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme), into the new mission concept named ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics).

The review, completed at the end of the reformulation exercise, establishes the overall feasibility and credibility of the L1 mission candidate reformulated concept - for both platform and payload - for a launch in 2022, and an ESA cost at completion of 850 MEuro (e.c. 2010).

Reference: LISA-EST-RP-1018

L1 Mission Reformulation, NGO

This report summarises the findings of the ESA review on the reformulation of LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (L class mission candidate of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme), into the new mission concept named NGO (New Gravitational wave Observer).

The review, completed at the end of the reformulation exercise, establishes the overall feasibility and credibility of the L1 mission candidate reformulated concept - for both platform and payload - for a launch in 2022, and an ESA cost at completion of 850 MEuro (e.c. 2010).

The ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) concept results from the reformulation of the IXO mission into a European-led mission.

This report, the so-called Yellow Book, contains the results of ESA's assessment study (Phase 0/A) of the candidate L-class Cosmic Vision mission ATHENA.

The JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer) concept results from the reformulation of the EJSM-Laplace mission into a European-led mission.

This report, the so-called Yellow Book, contains the results of ESA's assessment study (Phase 0/A) of the candidate L-class Cosmic Vision mission JUICE.

The NGO (New Gravitational wave Observatory) concept results from the reformulation of the LISA mission into a European-led mission.

This report, the so-called Yellow Book, contains the results of ESA's assessment study (Phase 0/A) of the candidate L-class Cosmic Vision mission NGO.