Twinkle -- a small satellite spectroscopy mission for the next phase of exoplanet science

TL;DR

Twinkle is a cost-effective small satellite with a 0.45m telescope, designed for exoplanet and Solar System research, scheduled for launch in 2025, utilizing off-the-shelf components for efficient science operations.

Contribution

It introduces a small satellite platform using off-the-shelf parts for exoplanet science, with a focus on cost efficiency and large-scale surveys.

Findings

Design refinements for thermal stability and orbit optimization

Two major survey programs planned for the first three years

Potential for significant contributions to exoplanet and Solar System science

Abstract

With a focus on off-the-shelf components, Twinkle is the first in a series of cost competitive small satellites managed and financed by Blue Skies Space Ltd. The satellite is based on a high-heritage Airbus platform that will carry a 0.45 m telescope and a spectrometer which will provide simultaneous wavelength coverage from 0.5-4.5 $\rm{\mu m}$. The spacecraft prime is Airbus Stevenage while the telescope is being developed by Airbus Toulouse and the spectrometer by ABB Canada. Scheduled to begin scientific operations in 2025, Twinkle will sit in a thermally-stable, sun-synchronous, low-Earth orbit. The mission has a designed operation lifetime of at least seven years and, during the first three years of operation, will conduct two large-scale survey programmes: one focused on Solar System objects and the other dedicated to extrasolar targets. Here we present an overview of the architecture of the mission, refinements in the design approach, and some of the key science themes of the extrasolar survey.