Space and Lunar Interferometry: Emerging Concepts and Pathways

arXiv:2607.07746 · astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP · Submitted 2026-07-08 · Read on arXiv

Gioia Rau

astro-ph.IM, astro-ph.EP

Submitted: 2026-07-08

Comments: Invited review. To appear in Proceedings of SPIE, Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2026. 21 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. v2: two schematic summary figures added (Appendix A), wavelength-baseline map moved to main text

License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Terminology

• Aperture — 20× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Calibration — 17× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
• AGN — 5× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager — 4× in this paper
• Core — 4× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Fidelity — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Fourier-Kelvin Stellar Interferometer — 2× in this paper
• Habitable Worlds Observatory — 2× in this paper
• Large Interferometer For Exoplanets — 2× in this paper
• Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna — 2× in this paper
• Nulling Interferometry Cryogenic Experiment — 2× in this paper
• Planet Formation Imager — 2× in this paper
• Steering — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Trace — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• 21-cm signal — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Accuracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Benchmark — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Commercial Lunar Payload Services — 1× in this paper
• Deferral — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Degeneracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Hybrid Architectures — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope — 1× in this paper
• Ontology — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Reinforcement Learning — 1× in this paper · explained in 4 episodes
• Space Interferometry Mission — 1× in this paper

Sources

• Planet Formation Imager (PFI): Project update and future directions
• L-band nulling interferometry at the VLTI with Asgard/NOTT: status and plans
• Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI): A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer
• NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report -- A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI)
• Astronomical Optical Interferometry from the Lunar Surface
• The Dark Ages Explorer (DEX): a filled-aperture ultra-long wavelength radio interferometer on the lunar far side
• FarView: An In-Situ Manufactured Lunar Far Side Radio Array Concept for 21-cm Dark Ages Cosmology
• The ASPIICS solar coronagraph aboard the Proba-3 formation flying mission. Scientific objectives and instrument design
• STARI: STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry
• The Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT): High-resolution imaging and spectroscopy in the far-infrared
• The Black Hole Explorer: Photon Ring Science, Detection and Shape Measurement
• SILVIA: Ultra-precision formation flying demonstration for space-based interferometry
• A Realistic Roadmap to Formation Flying Space Interferometry
• Asgard/NOTT: L-band nulling interferometry at the VLTI -- III. The mid-infrared integrated optics beam combiner for NOTT
• Database of Candidate Targets for the LIFE Mission
• NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) Science Gap List
• A preliminary exploration of the effects of baseline length for the LIFE space mission
• MoonLITE: a CLPS-delivered NASA Astrophysics Pioneers lunar optical interferometer for sensitive, milliarcsecond observing
• High spatial resolution spectral imaging method for space interferometers and its application to formation-flying small satellites
• Autonomous Guidance Navigation and Control of the VISORS Formation-Flying Mission

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