LISA reaches a crucial milestone

The future gravitational-wave observatory in space completes a rigorous review

© NASA/JPL-Caltech/NASAEA/ESA/CXC/STScl/GSFCSVS/S.Barke (CC BY 4.0)

LISA Pathfinder - A Space Saga

Relive the groundbreaking technology demonstrator's mission milestones 5 years ago in a new Youtube mini-series released by the LISA Consortium.

LISA Pathfinder being encapsulated within the Vega rocket. © ESA–Manuel Pedoussaut

13th LISA Symposium talks are online

Find out about the exciting future of gravitational wave astrophysics in space!

Artist's impression of a LISA spacecraft. © AEI/MM/exozet

ESA ministers commit to biggest ever budget

The significant boost in funding for ESA’s world-class and inspirational science programme will allow the first gravitational wave detector in space, LISA, to fly alongside the black hole mission Athena.

ESA’s Council at Ministerial Level, Space19+, has concluded in Seville, Spain, with the endorsement of the most ambitious plan to date for the future of ESA and the whole European space sector. Image: ESA

Why we need a gravitational wave observatory in space

The science case for LISA

Merging Black Holes. Credit: T. Pyle/LIGO

The Gravitational Universe

Illuminating the dark universe with a new astronomy

Artist's impression of supermassive black hole. Credit: ESA/NASA, AVO project, Paolo Padovani.

LISA: A New Astronomy

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

Artist's impression of LISA satellite. Credit: AEI/MM/exozet
The LISA Mission Homepage

LISA - observing gravitational waves in space

LISA will be a large-scale space mission designed to detect one of the most elusive phenomena in astronomy - gravitational waves. With LISA we will be able to observe the entire universe directly with gravitational waves, learning about the formation of structure and galaxies, stellar evolution, the early universe, and the structure and nature of spacetime itself.

The LISA Pathfinder Mission successfully paved the way for the LISA mission by demonstrating the key technologies for a large gravitational wave observatory in space. The results show that LISA Pathfinder is working to a precision better than required for LISA. The LISA Pathfinder mission was launched on 3rd December 2015 and ended in July 2017. 

The LISA Consortium

The LISA Consortium is committed to supporting the LISA mission. It includes all the main investigators involved in the highly successful LISA Pathfinder mission, a number of scientists who worked on the ground-based LIGO, Virgo, and GEO projects, and a number who worked on the Laser Ranging Interferometer on the GRACE Follow-On mission, thus making full use of the expertise accumulated so far. The LISA Consortium proposed and submitted the white paper The Gravitational Universe which was accepted for the ESA L3 slot.

If you are a scientist and wish to contribute to the LISA mission, use this scientist registration form.

A new frontier for exploring the physical universe

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Latest news and consortium activities

Date Title Summary
Nov 27, 2013
 Selected: The Gravitational Universe - ESA decided on next Large Mission Concepts Selected: The Gravitational UniverseESA decided on next Large Mission Concepts The...
May 15, 2014
 LISA Pathfinder displayed for the first time at the ILA 2014 Direct detection of gravitational waves in space requires some completely new...
Nov 04, 2014
 Imaging System Investigations for LISA Members of Airbus DS GmbH, the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert...
Nov 11, 2014
 Inertial sensors of the LISA Pathfinder mission delivered Important step forward: CGS SpA deliveres theinertial sensors of the LISA Pathfinder...
Dec 10, 2014
 Preparing the team: Operations test The LISA Pathfinder science team, together with the Science and Technology Operations...

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Conferences, publications and positions

Date News topicsort descending Image Title
Feb 21, 2023
 Positions PhD positions in gravitational wave cosmology at L2IT Toulouse
Positions PhD or Masters by Research positions – University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Dec 14, 2022
 Positions Postdoctoral position in theoretical stellar astrophysics at the FORTH Institute of Astrophysics
Positions ESA Archival Research Visitor Programme
Feb 07, 2023
 Positions Notre Dame Postdoc Positions available, University of Notre Dame’s Society of Science Fellows
Feb 24, 2023
 Positions Flight Software Engineer (m/f/d) "Scientific Instrumentation for Space Applications"
Oct 19, 2022
 Positions Postdoc at Precision Interferometry and Fundamental Interactions Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Hannover
Mar 10, 2023
 Positions Assistant professor position in Astronomy and Astrophysics at University of Pisa
Positions Fellowships at the Nottingham Centre of Gravity
Feb 07, 2023
 Positions PhD position in Gravitational Wave Physics (m/f/d, TV-L E13, 50%) Faculty of Science, Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Tübingen
Dec 20, 2022
 Positions PhD positions available at the UWA Gravitational-Wave Astronomy Group
Jan 24, 2023
 Positions Open positions at the Max Plack Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Hannover, Germany in experimental and instrumental physics
Mar 14, 2023
 Positions Assistant/Associate Professor of Astrophysics at University of Birmingham
Positions Positions in Quantum-Nanometrology within the QuantumFrontiers Excellence Cluster
Feb 09, 2023
 Positions PhD Fellowship in Gravitational Wave Physics University of Copenhagen, Niels Bohr International Academy

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