Aetheras: Characterising exoplanetary atmospheric escape with NIR and UV spectroscopy

To date, many exoplanets have been discovered which exhibit distinct characteristics not observed within our own Solar System, raising numerous unresolved questions regarding their compositions, atmospheres, formation processes, and evolutionary pathways. Several missions have been dedicated to enhance the understanding of the exoplanets like James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. However, they have a limited spectral range and resolution to allow for a complete characterisation of atmospheric dynamics. The Aetheras mission proposal was developed at the Summer School Alpbach 2023 and presents a satellite mission to overcome these limitations to better understand the formation, evolution and characteristics of exoplanets. This mission aims to unravel key enigmas in contemporary exoplanetary research by investigating atmospheric escape mechanisms and measuring proxies of magnetic fields’ influence on atmospheric loss. Focusing on objects in the Radius Valley and the Hot Neptune desert, the mission seeks to discover their origins. By defining mission needs and designing a potential instrument based on derived requirements, a space mission architecture is envisioned to fulfil the proposed mission objectives. A spacecraft design has been made with top down systems engineering approach. Employing transit spectroscopy in the near-infrared range (1070 nm to 1090 nm) and ultraviolet range (115 nm to 285 nm) outside the geocoronal influence, the mission gains valuable insights to planetary formation and evolution. The mission architecture comprises a 1302 kg spacecraft equipped with a 1.5 m main mirror to observe the sky over a mission lifetime of three years.