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arXiv · 2608.06594

Optomechanical Design of the MANTIS SmallSat: An Extreme-, Far- and Near-Ultraviolet Spectrograph for Exoplanet Host Stars

Brian Fleming·Briana Indahl·Dmitry Vorobiev·Kristina Davis·Kevin France·David Wilson·Nicholas Kruczek·Timothy Hellickson·Emily Farr·Marta Civitani·Davide Sisana·Kotish Grover·Laura Proserpio·Stefano Basso·Vincenzo Cotroneo·Fabien Grise·Randall McEntaffer·Oswald Siegmund·Adrian Martin
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Abstract

The MANTIS (Monitoring Activity of Nearby sTars with uv Imaging and Spectroscopy) observatory is a compact, multi-instrument small satellite designed for simultaneous extreme- (EUV; 100 - 560 Angstrom), far- (FUV; 1150-1800 Angstrom) and near-ultraviolet/visible (NUV/VIS; 2000-6400 Angstrom) spectroscopy of low-mass stars. The EUV optical system consists of a first-of-its-kind Hettrick-Bowyer grazing incidence telescope contributed by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) feeding an advanced e-beam lithographic etched variable line spacing grating developed at Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The resulting low-resolution spectrum is imaged on an advanced microchannel plate detector with a potassium iodide (KI) photocathode for extremely low background noise, resulting in a limiting sensitivity for MANTIS that exceeds that of the last EUV-sensitive astrophysics point-source spectrograph, the Deep Survey/Spectrometer (DS/S) on EUVE. The FUV and NUV/Optical channels are fed by a compact rectangular telescope that focuses onto a series of point-source apertures. The diverging beam is refocused and the FUV band dispersed by a holographic grating, then folded back onto the same detector as the EUV channel by a toroidal fold mirror. The zero-order light is picked off by a flat NUV grating, with the NUV/Optical spectrum recorded on an e2v CCD 42-10 detector. The MANTIS spacecraft is a custom build that leverages the experience derived from prior University of Colorado - LASP SmallSats for avionics, power, communications, and mechanical structure. MANTIS is projected to be completed in 2027 with an anticipated 2028 launch as an ESPA-class payload on a rideshare opportunity.

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Brian Fleming, Briana Indahl, Dmitry Vorobiev, Kristina Davis, Kevin France, David Wilson, Nicholas Kruczek, Timothy Hellickson, Emily Farr, Marta Civitani, Davide Sisana, Kotish Grover, Laura Proserpio, Stefano Basso, Vincenzo Cotroneo, Fabien Grise, Randall McEntaffer, Oswald Siegmund, Adrian Martin. 2026-08-06. Optomechanical Design of the MANTIS SmallSat: An Extreme-, Far- and Near-Ultraviolet Spectrograph for Exoplanet Host Stars. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.06594

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