Konstantin Sukharnikov Scientific instrumentation

A hobby. An independent overview compiled from public sources by a science and space enthusiast. I am not involved in these missions or facilities; my own work is detector electronics at European XFEL. My projects →

Calendar

Flybys, orbit insertions and landings; first beams, observing runs and site decisions at large facilities; and conferences on detectors and their electronics.

Coming up

The next weeks and months.

  1. LVK — Start of the six-month IR1 observing runLVK plan: late October to mid-November; start not yet confirmed
    Gravitational waves
  2. PIXEL2026 — Proceedings submissions (JINST), deadline 12 DecemberPreliminary
    Detector conferences
  3. IEEE NSS/MIC/RTSD 2026 — Granada, SpainConference dates confirmed
    Detector conferences
  4. Voyager 1 — First spacecraft ever one light-day from Earth (~25.9 billion km)Calculated
    Space · Kuiper belt & beyond
  5. BepiColombo — Orbit insertion at MercuryESA plan
    Space · Mercury
  6. Hera — ESA to release the first detailed images of DimorphosESA plan
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  7. Einstein Telescope — Site bids duePlan (“end of 2026”)
    Gravitational waves
  8. HEPS — National acceptance and start of official operationPlanned "within 2026" (as of June 2026); not confirmed
    Synchrotrons
  9. Parker Solar Probe — Perihelion no. 30Estimate, calculated from the 88-day orbit
    Space · Sun
  10. FLASH — First community experiments on the seeded FLASH1DESY plan: "end of 2026 / beginning of 2027"; already moved from spring–summer 2026
    X-ray lasers
  11. Europa Clipper — Earth gravity assist (~3,200 km) and magnetometer calibrationNASA plan
    Space · Jupiter
  12. BepiColombo — Separation of the MPO and Mio orbitersESA plan
    Space · Mercury
  13. Solar Orbiter — Venus flyby, raising the orbital inclination to 24°ESA plan
    Space · Sun
  14. Elettra 2.0 — Commissioning of the new ring with beamProject plan; moved from 15 September 2026
    Synchrotrons
  15. LCLS-II — Restart of the superconducting linacPlan (“early 2027”)
    X-ray lasers
  16. ESS — First beam on target, first neutronsESS plan (April 2026)
    Neutrons
  17. ESRF — ID24-ED leaves the user programme (budget cut of €5 million a year)Decided by the ESRF Council (22 December 2025)
    Synchrotrons

Further ahead

Planned milestones over the next years. Plans in big science move; treat these as targets.

  1. SHINE — First lasing (~200 eV)
    X-ray lasers
  2. KATRIN — Final result on the neutrino mass
    Neutrinos
  3. PETRA IV — Funding decision by the federal research ministry BMFTR (expected; DESY had asked for it by mid-2026)
    Synchrotrons
  4. MMX — Arrival at Mars
    Space · Mars
  5. Einstein Telescope — Site decision
    Gravitational waves
  6. SHINE — Project completion
    X-ray lasers
  7. BepiColombo — Start of the science phase
    Space · Mercury
  8. Tianwen-2 — Departure from Kamoʻoalewa (planned)
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  9. Elettra 2.0 — Open access to the first 15 beamlines
    Synchrotrons
  10. Lucy — Flyby of the Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its moon Queta
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  11. SRI 2027 — Campinas, Brazil
    Detector conferences
  12. ESCAPADE — Arrival at Mars
    Space · Mars
  13. Lucy — Flyby of Polymele
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  14. LCLS-II-HE — First light at 8 GeV
    X-ray lasers
  15. SPring-8 — Shutdown of about a year for SPring-8-II (second half of Japanese fiscal year 2027); SACLA keeps running
    Synchrotrons
  16. ALS-U — Start of the dark time, about 22 months
    Synchrotrons
  17. IEEE NSS/MIC 2027 — Los Angeles (not yet confirmed)
    Detector conferences
  18. Tianwen-2 — Sample capsule lands in China (planned)
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  19. Diamond-II — Start of the dark period (until June 2029)
    Synchrotrons
  20. Hyper-Kamiokande — First data
    Neutrinos
  21. PETRA IV — Construction of the experimental hall begins (if the project is approved)
    Synchrotrons
  22. PAL-XFEL — Second hard X-ray line HX2 (estimate: funded from 2026, about two years of construction)
    X-ray lasers
  23. VCI 2028 — Vienna, Austria
    Detector conferences
  24. Lucy — Flyby of Leucus
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  25. SOLEIL II — SOLEIL shuts down; dark period of about two years including commissioning
    Synchrotrons
  26. Lucy — Flyby of Orus
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  27. Juice — Last Earth gravity assist
    Space · Jupiter
  28. ALS-U — Project completion
    Synchrotrons
  29. SPring-8-II — Start of general user operation (during Japanese fiscal year 2029)
    Synchrotrons
  30. SwissFEL — SwissFELplus upgrade: seeding, preparation of a new line
    X-ray lasers
  31. OSIRIS-APEX — Apophis passes ~32,000 km from Earth
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  32. Diamond-II — End of the dark period; first beamlines in September 2029
    Synchrotrons
  33. Psyche — Arrival at the asteroid Psyche
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  34. DUNE — First data
    Neutrinos
  35. Europa Clipper — Orbit insertion at Jupiter
    Space · Jupiter
  36. HL-LHC — Start of Run 4
    Particle physics
  37. Juice — Orbit insertion at Jupiter
    Space · Jupiter
  38. Hayabusa2# — Rendezvous with asteroid 1998 KY26
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  39. PETRA IV — X-rays for experiments (if funding is decided quickly)
    Synchrotrons

Recently

What happened over the last weeks.

  1. ESCAPADE Gold — Same for the second spacecraftPlanned date has passed; outcome not yet confirmed.
    Space · Mars
  2. ESCAPADE Blue — Earth flyby (~970–1,770 km) and a ~9-minute burn towards MarsPlanned date has passed; outcome not yet confirmed.
    Space · Mars
  3. Hera — Arrival at the Didymos–Dimorphos systemPlanned date has passed; outcome not yet confirmed.
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  4. ALPS II (DESY) — First science results published in PRL
    Particle physics
  5. MMX — Launched on an H3 rocket
    Space · Mars
  6. Hera — First image showing Didymos and Dimorphos separately
    Space · Asteroids & comets
  7. Perseverance — Driving record: 45.22 km in total
    Space · Mars
  8. Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 — Awarded to Francis Halzen (IceCube)
    Neutrinos
  9. TWEPP 2026 — Castelldefels, Spain
    Detector conferences
  10. Juice — Earth gravity assist at 8,640 km
    Space · Jupiter
  11. PIXEL2026 — Miyazaki, Japan
    Detector conferences
  12. Parker Solar Probe — Perihelion no. 29
    Space · Sun
  13. BepiColombo — Transfer module (MTM) separated
    Space · Mercury
  14. PAL-XFEL — Funding announced for the second hard X-ray line HX2 (LINAC2026)
    X-ray lasers
  15. SHINE — Start of accelerator commissioning (planned date)
    X-ray lasers
  16. ALS-U — DOE approves the revised schedule and cost
    Synchrotrons
  17. Rubin — Start of the LSST survey
    Astronomy
  18. LHC — Start of Long Shutdown 3
    Particle physics
  19. iWoRiD 2026 — Ghent, Belgium
    Detector conferences
  20. SwissFEL — SwissFELplus upgrade plan presented (IPAC'26)
    X-ray lasers
  21. PETRA IV — Positive assessment by the German Science Council (Wissenschaftsrat)
    Synchrotrons
  22. APS-U — Upgrade officially completed
    Synchrotrons

Space missions as of 3 Nov 2026; facilities and conferences as of 9 Nov 2026. Names link to the mission or facility page here, or to the official site.

Dates are the organisers’ plans and often shift. “≈” marks an estimate; times are UTC.