The exoplanet field has witnessed a revolution with the results of the Kepler and CoRoT space missions, which uncovered a large population of small planets, a few of which in the habitable zones of their stars. The more recent TESS mission is helping to make a census of planets with bright stellar hosts. Furthermore, a new generation of space missions and ground-based projects is now being developed and deployed, including ESAs CHEOPS, PLATO, and Ariel, and ground-based radial velocity instruments, such as CARMENES. All these are the backbone of a well-defined roadmap defined by the European astronomical community and ESA and we, the proposing team, have a prominent involvement in most of them.
The Ariel mission will take exoplanet atmosphere characterization to the next level in terms of precision and breadth by opening a new vista in exoplanet demographics. Ariel will address the fundamental questions on what exoplanets are made of and how planetary systems form and evolve. It was adopted by ESA in October 2020 as the M4 mission of the Cosmic Vision program, with a planned launch in 2029. Ariel will observe ~1000 transiting planets, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types. Working on the necessary steps for a successful launch, operation and exploitation of the Ariel mission is the ultimate goal of the present coordinated effort. The proposed 3-year project will cover Phase C and part of Phase D of the mission. The proposing team at IEEC, IAC and UPM has high-level roles in the mission structure and gathers the groups that share responsibility for the Spanish participation in Ariel. Technical responsibilities comprise the telescope and optical bench design, the secondary mirror refocusing mechanism, the Telescope Control Unit electronic subsystem and the mission planning software.
The technical activities of the project go hand-in-hand with parallel developments in the associated science to make the most of the superb-quality data expected from Ariel. Science activities such as the participation in the science working groups and ensuring that Ariel has the best and most complete target list possible are all key to the successful preparation of the mission. We will continue to support the scientific exploitation of TESS, CHEOPS, CARMENES, ESPRESSO and MuSCAT2 for this purpose, including: 1) Technological developments of the Ariel mission payload and ground segment; 2) Search, confirmation and characterization of exoplanets as potential Ariel targets; and 3) Characterization of exoplanet atmospheres and development of optimal analysis methodologies for Ariel data.
This coordinated project gathers the necessary expertise, skills and momentum to accomplish the different main technical and scientific goals described above. Missions and ground-based projects will revolutionize what we know about planets, including those that are like Earth. Our work will provide essential support to the instruments and missions and will keep on pushing European leadership in the field of exoplanet research.
