Mid- and far-infrared optimized mission: HII/L2 Original Research Article

We present a conceptual design of a future infrared astronomical satellite: the HII/L2 mission. Its telescope is to be launched at ambient temperature (warm launch) and is to be cooled to 4.5 K by effective radiative cooling and mechanical cryogenic coolers. The warm launch design reduces the total weight dramatically. A 3.5 m class telescope can be put into a halo orbit around S-E L2 by the Japanese H-IIA launching vehicle. This mission focuses on high-resolution mid- to far-infrared observations with unprecedented sensitivity. The target launch year is 2010.