Search for Life on Exoplanets: Toward an International Institutional Coordination

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the need for an international organization to coordinate long-term efforts in the search for extraterrestrial life using upcoming space missions with advanced spectral capabilities.

Contribution

It proposes a framework for establishing an international institution to coordinate and plan future exoplanet life detection missions over the coming decades.

Findings

Highlighting the importance of international coordination for exoplanet exploration

Proposing a structure for a dedicated international institution

Addressing long-term planning needs for space missions

Abstract

Searching for life in the universe will make use of several large space missions in the visible and thermal infrared, each with increasing spectral and angular resolution. They will require long-term planning over the coming decades. We present the necessity for building an international structure to coordinate activities for the next several decades and sketch the possible structure and role of a dedicated international institution.