NASA Taps L3Harris for LISA Test Telescope Ahead of Flight Hardware
NASA has selected L3Harris to build an all-glass engineering test unit telescope for the ESA-led LISA gravitational-wave mission, a final step before flight hardware.
The story in focus
NASA has moved to the next stage of developing an all-glass telescope for the ESA-led LISA gravitational-wave mission, selecting L3Harris Technologies to design, assemble and integrate an Engineering Test Unit. NASA describes the unit as a final step before future production of flight hardware. LISA is slated to launch in the mid-2030s.
- L3Harris will design, assemble and integrate the Engineering Test Unit telescope for NASA's LISA contribution.
- NASA calls the unit its last pre-flight telescope and its first optical telescope delivery to ESA.
- LISA, led by ESA, is slated for launch in the mid-2030s with three satellites in an Earth-following orbit.
What the test telescope is for
NASA said the Engineering Test Unit will be built by L3Harris Technologies, which will design, assemble and integrate it. NASA described the contribution as a final step toward future production of flight hardware. The unit follows a prototype telescope delivered by L3Harris in 2024, which served as an engineering development unit, and a metal structural model delivered in June.
Ritva Keski-Kuha, lead for the LISA Telescope program at NASA Goddard, said lessons from rigorous prototype testing are being carried into the new telescope, which NASA calls its last pre-flight unit and first optical telescope delivery to ESA.
How the mission measures gravitational waves
LISA will place three satellites in an Earth-following orbit, forming a triangular array with sides of 1.6 million miles (2.5 million kilometers). Each satellite carries two telescopes that send and receive infrared laser signals between neighboring spacecraft, measuring tiny changes in their separation.
NASA project scientist Ira Thorpe said the changes are smaller than the width of a helium atom, but through them LISA will reveal low-frequency gravitational waves not detectable by ground facilities. He said the mission could detect mergers of monster black holes billions of light-years away and map compact pairs of white dwarfs, neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes.
Materials and schedule
Each telescope will be made entirely of Zerodur, an amber-colored ceramic-glass composite that resists shape changes across a wide temperature range. ESA leads LISA, which is slated for launch in the mid-2030s; NASA contributes telescopes, other hardware and engineering and scientific support. Additional NASA contributions include the laser system, devices to manage electric charge buildup on proof masses, and data analysis.
When is the LISA mission slated to launch?
ESA leads LISA, and the mission is slated for launch in the mid-2030s, according to NASA. NASA is contributing telescopes, other critical hardware, and engineering and scientific support as a collaborative partner.
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