The Arrakis mission, named after the planet in the science fiction novel Dune, will change the way we view the universe. His ARRAKIHS consortium, led by the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne (EPFL), has successfully completed the first important stage of the project: the mission statement review. This is an important step towards the launch of the ARRAKIHS satellite in 2030, which will study the properties of dark matter. This mission was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA). Dark matter is matter that can be detected by gravity but is invisible to the naked eye. They occupy an important part of the universe, including the early stages of galaxy formation. ARRAKIHS will study these dim structures, which are important for understanding the nature of dark matter.

The Arrakis mission, named after the planet in the science fiction novel Dune, is a satellite in low Earth orbit. It will study 75 analogs of the Milky Way galaxy and will observe them for a total of 150 hours. These observations are useful for comparing different dark energy models and their predictions. Pascal Jablonka of EPFL, who heads the scientific department of ARRAKIHS, pointed out that this project brings together different aspects of research in dark matter, galaxy evolution, image processing and numerical simulations, and emphasized the importance of this project. emphasized. Over the next two and a half years, the ARRAKIHS consortium will work with his ESA and industry on the next stages of the project, including defining all aspects of the mission. After successful testing by independent scientists and engineers, ESA will recommend implementation of the project. This project represents an important step toward solving one of the most puzzling mysteries of modern physics: the nature of dark matter. If successful, ARRAKIHS could provide answers to fundamental questions about the structure of the universe and its evolution.