Infrastructures and services for planetary exploration

Flying space missions to the different destinations of the Solar System, and maximizing their science return, relies on the availability for generic technical infrastructures and services to provide support to groups of missions rather than specialized support systems tailored to individual missions. In this chapter, we present an overview of the different types of infrastructures and services that will be needed to support the group of representative missions identified in Chapter 4 (Pillar 2 report). We first review infrastructures and services that support robotic, sample return, and human exploration missions: launch, telecommunication and navigation services, space stations and Moon outposts, and sample curation facilities. All these missions also require the support of Solar-System-scale space weather services. Complementary to space missions, Earth-based telescopes, ground-based simulation facilities, and laboratory experiments provide key scientific information to provide an in-depth understanding of our planetary system and its constituent objects. Finally, advanced data systems evolving toward a global Solar System Virtual Observatory (VO) will provide an integrated service to all scientific users, enabling access diverse data sources with the aim of producing new scientific knowledge. Virtual navigation in this VO will also offer a unique way for teachers, students, and the public to develop their own experience of exploring the Solar System. Most importantly, the VO will contribute to the inspiration and training of the new generations of space scientists, engineers, and managers who will turn the Horizon 2061 perspective presented in this book into reality.