Planck pre-launch status: The Planck mission

¹ European Space Agency, Astrophysics Division, ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands e-mail: jtauber@rssd.esa.int
² INAF - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, via Gobetti 101, Bologna, Italy
³ Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS (UMR8617) Université Paris-Sud 11, Bâtiment 121, Orsay, France
⁴ Thales Alenia Space France, 100 Boulevard du Midi, Cannes la Bocca, France
⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria, 16, Milano, Italy
⁶ Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS UMR7095, & UPMC, Université Pierre & Marie Curie, 98bis boulevard Arago, Paris, France
⁷ European Space Agency, Herschel-Planck Project, ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁸ European Space Agency, Herschel-Planck Project, European Space Operations Centre – ESOC, Robert-Bosch-Str. 5, Darmstadt, Germany
⁹ University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK
¹⁰ University of Trieste, Department of Physics, via A. Valerio 2, Trieste, Italy
¹¹ LERMA, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, 61 Avenue de l'Observatoire, Paris, France
¹² Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California, USA
¹³ DTU Space, National Space Institute, Juliane Mariesvej 30, Copenhagen, Denmark
¹⁴ European Space Agency, Planck Science Office – ESAC, Camino bajo del Castillo, s/n, Urbanización Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹⁵ INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, via G.B. Tiepolo 11, Trieste, Italy
¹⁶ Cardiff University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Queens Buildings, 5 The Parade, Cardiff, Wales, UK
¹⁷ Departamento de Ingeniería de Comunicaciones, Universidad de Cantabria, Plaza de la Ciencia, Santander, Spain
¹⁸ Thales Alenia Space Italia, S.S. Padana Superiore, 290, Vimodrone, Milano, Italy
¹⁹ CEA Saclay, IrfU/SAp, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
²⁰ University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, Astrophysics group, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, UK
²¹ Centre d'Étude Spatiale des Rayonnements, UMR 5187, 9 Av. du Colonel Roche, Toulouse, France
²² Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
²³ Thales Alenia Space Italia, Collegno 253, Turin, Italy
²⁴ Astrophysics Sector, SISSA-ISAS, via Beirut 4, Trieste, Italy
²⁵ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1, Roma, Italy
²⁶ Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, Garching, Germany
²⁷ CESR, CNRS-Université de Toulouse, 9 Av. du Colonel Roche, Toulouse, France
²⁸ Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (CNRS, UMR 5571), 414 Rue de la piscine, Grenoble, France
²⁹ Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria), Avda. de los Castros s/n, Santander, Spain
³⁰ Zentrum für Astronomie, Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, Heidelberg, Germany
³¹ University of Granada, Departamento de Física Teórica y del Cosmos, Facultad de Ciencias, Granada, Spain
³² Laboratoire de l'Accélerateur Linéaire, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Orsay, France
³³ Officine Pasquali, via Del Palazzo dei Diavoli 124, Firenze, Italy
³⁴ CNES, Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 18 avenue Edouard Belin, Toulouse, France
³⁵ INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, Padova, Italy
³⁶ CITA, University of Toronto, McLennan Labs 60, St. George St., Toronto, Canada
³⁷ University of California, Computational Research Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
³⁸ Astroparticule et Cosmologie, CNRS (UMR7164), Université Denis Diderot Paris 7, Bâtiment Condorcet, 10 rue A. Domon et Léonie Duquet, Paris, France
³⁹ Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, UK
⁴⁰ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, P. le A. Moro 2, Roma, Italy
⁴¹ Oerlikon Space, Schaffhauserstrasse 580, Zürich, Switzerland
⁴² Institut Néel, CNRS, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I, 25 rue des Martyrs, Grenoble, France
⁴³ Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
⁴⁴ Department of Physics, Purdue University, 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
⁴⁵ Imperial College London, Astrophysics group, Blackett Laboratory, Prince Consort Road, London, UK
⁴⁶ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
⁴⁷ Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
⁴⁸ Department of Physics, Standford University, Stanford, California, USA
⁴⁹ Istituto di Fisica del Plasma, CNR, via Roberto Cozzi 53, Milano, Italy
⁵⁰ Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
⁵¹ Telecommunication and System Engineering Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
⁵² Centre Spatial de Liège, Liège Science Park, Av. du Pré-Aily, Angleur, Belgium
⁵³ Centre of Mathematics for Applications, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway
⁵⁴ Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway
⁵⁵ Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, viale Liegi 26, Roma, Italy
⁵⁶ University of Barcelona, ICE/CSIC, Torre c5, par-2, Cerdanyola (Barcelona), Spain
⁵⁷ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/vía Láctea s/n, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
⁵⁸ INAF/IASF Milano, via E. Bassini 15, Milano, Italy
⁵⁹ Research and Scientific Support Department of ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
⁶⁰ University of Miami, Knight Physics Building, 1320 Campo Sano Dr., Coral Gables, Florida, USA
⁶¹ Ylinen Electronics Ltd., Teollisuustie 9A, Kauniainen, Finland
⁶² Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
⁶³ Observatory, Tähtitorninmäki, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
⁶⁴ Department of Physics, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2a, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
⁶⁵ Department of Physics, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California, USA
⁶⁶ Helsinki Institute of Physics, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
⁶⁷ Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Helsinki University of Technology, Metsähovintie 114, Kylmälä, Finland
⁶⁸ Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
⁶⁹ Tycho Brahe Planetarium, Gl. Kongevej 10, Copenhagen, Denmark
⁷⁰ LPSC, Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble I, CNRS/IN2P3, Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, 53 avenue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble Cedex, France
⁷¹ CEA Saclay, IrfU/SPP Bat 141, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
⁷² Dipartimento di Fisica “G. Galilei”, Università degli Studi di Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy
⁷³ ISDC Data Centre for Astrophysics, University of Geneva, ch. d'Ecogia 16, Versoix, Switzerland
⁷⁴ National University of Ireland (NUI), Department of Experimental Physics, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Dublin, Ireland
⁷⁵ TICRA, Laederstraede 34, Copenhagen, Denmark
⁷⁶ Spitzer Science Center, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, California, USA
⁷⁷ Haverford College Astronomy Department, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA
⁷⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
⁷⁹ Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Science Data Center, c/o ESRIN, via Galileo Galilei, Frascati, Italy
⁸⁰ Institute for Space Sciences, Bucharest-Magurale, Romania
⁸¹ Departament de Teoria del Senyal i Comunicacions, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya, Campus Nord, Edificio D4, C. Jordi Girona, 1-3, Barcelona, Spain
⁸² Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
⁸³ Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
⁸⁴ CNR - ISTI, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, Pisa, Italy
⁸⁵ Optical Science Laboratory, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK
⁸⁶ Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, 6224 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
⁸⁷ Department of Physics, University of Oxford, 1 Keble Road, Oxford, UK
⁸⁸ Astrium GmbH, Friedrichshafen, Germany
⁸⁹ Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
⁹⁰ INAF - Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, Florence, Italy
⁹¹ Departamento de Física, Universidad de Oviedo, Avda. Calvo Sotelo s/n, Oviedo, Spain
⁹² MilliLab, VTT Information Technology, Tietotie 3, Espoo, Finland
⁹³ INAF Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, via S. Sofia, Catania, Italy
⁹⁴ Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois, USA
⁹⁵ Departments of Astronomy and Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
⁹⁶ Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas S.A., C. Severo Ochoa (Parq. Tecnológico De Madrid) 4, Tres Cantos, Spain

Received: 24 July 2009
Accepted: 12 November 2009

Abstract

The European Space Agency's Planck satellite, launched on 14 May 2009, is the third-generation space experiment in the field of cosmic microwave background (CMB) research. It will image the anisotropies of the CMB over the whole sky, with unprecedented sensitivity ( ~ 2 × 10^-6) and angular resolution (~5 arcmin). Planck will provide a major source of information relevant to many fundamental cosmological problems and will test current theories of the early evolution of the Universe and the origin of structure. It will also address a wide range of areas of astrophysical research related to the Milky Way as well as external galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The ability of Planck to measure polarization across a wide frequency range (30-350 GHz), with high precision and accuracy, and over the whole sky, will provide unique insight, not only into specific cosmological questions, but also into the properties of the interstellar medium. This paper is part of a series which describes the technical capabilities of the Planck scientific payload. It is based on the knowledge gathered during the on-ground calibration campaigns of the major subsystems, principally its telescope and its two scientific instruments, and of tests at fully integrated satellite level. It represents the best estimate before launch of the technical performance that the satellite and its payload will achieve in flight. In this paper, we summarise the main elements of the payload performance, which is described in detail in the accompanying papers. In addition, we describe the satellite performance elements which are most relevant for science, and provide an overview of the plans for scientific operations and data analysis.