Single aperture large telescope for universe studies (SALTUS)

Single Aperture Large Telescope for Universe Studies (SALTUS) is a proposed NASA Probe class mission that will provide a powerful far-infrared (far-IR) pointed space observatory to explore our cosmic origins and the possibility of life elsewhere. During its 5 year baseline mission, SALTUS will perform groundbreaking studies towards 1000s of astrophysical targets, including the first galaxies, protoplanetary disks, and numerous solar system objects. SALTUS employs a deployable 14-m aperture, with a sunshield that will radiatively cool the off-axis primary to <45K, along with cryogenic coherent and incoherent detectors that span the 34 to 660 𝜇m far-IR range at both high and moderate spectral resolutions. This spectral range is unavailable to any existing ground or space observatory. SALTUS will have 16x the collecting area and 4x the angular resolution of Herschel and is de-signed for a lifetime ≥5 years. With its large aperture and powerful suite of instruments, SALTUS’s observations will provide a giant leap forward in our capabilities to study the local and distant universe.