LISA Telescope Challenges

Abstract

The LISA Mission proposal was selected by ESA's Science Program Committee (SPC) for the L3 Cosmic Visions launch opportunity, and is currently in a Phase A mission formulation study. An essential component of the instrument is a set of optical telescopes that make precision displacement measurements between pairs of proof masses that are flying drag-free in three separate satellites. We discuss the key requirements on the telescope, the current design, and discuss progress toward solving some of the key challenges for realizing the telescope designs.