This document provides the top-level science requirements for the Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory (EChO), a dedicated mission to investigate exoplanetary atmospheres.
The EChO mission was proposed to ESA in response to the M3 call in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme, and was selected for assessment in February 2011. The mission in turn builds on a concept for an Exoplanet Spectroscopy Mission (ESM) that was recommended by the Exoplanetary RoadMap Advisory Team (EPRAT) in 2009/10 for study by ESA.
The science requirements were initially derived from the science objectives described in the EChO M3 proposal and have been refined and updated following discussions between the EChO science team and the ESA internal study team.
This document was first written as input to the CDF study starting in June 2011. It has been updated continuously since, and will continue to be refined over the course of the study.
The aim of this document is to detail the science requirements for all aspects of the mission. As such, the document provides a means by which to understand, trace and support a detailed analysis of the relationship between the science objectives of the mission and the specification of the mission and payload.