Critical r&d issues for the ilc damping rings and new test facilities

The damping rings for the International Linear Collider will be required to accept large beams from the electron and positron sources, and produce highly stable, very low emittance beams for tuning and operation of downstream systems. While many of the parameters for the damping rings are within range of storage rings presently operating, beams meeting the full quality and stability specifications have yet to be demonstrated. We discuss the principal goals of the damping rings research and development program, and the roles that could be played by some proposed future damping rings test facilities.