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 →

Facility · Gravitational waves

LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK)

Network of ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers

Status
Upgrade
Location
Hanford and Livingston (USA), Cascina (Italy), Kamioka (Japan)
Operator
LIGO Laboratory, EGO/Virgo and KAGRA, in the LVK collaboration
Next
late Oct to mid-Nov 2026 — six-month IR1 run starts (plan)

Summary

A network of interferometers with 3–4 km arms. Since 2015 it has recorded hundreds of mergers of black holes and neutron stars. The next big step is the O5 run with the A+ upgrade.

Now as of 4 Nov 2026

The O4 run ended on 18 November 2025, and the detectors are being upgraded and recommissioned. The official plan is a six-month IR1 run starting between late October and mid-November 2026, with both LIGO detectors, Virgo with interruptions and KAGRA when ready. The O5 schedule is being revised (LVK observing plans). As of 4 November 2026 I found no confirmation that IR1 had started.

Key dates

  1. 14 Sep 2015First detection of gravitational waves (GW150914)done
  2. May 2023 – 18 Nov 2025O4 observing rundone
  3. Oct–Nov 2026IR1 starts (six months)planned
  4. 2027–2028 or laterO5 (schedule under revision)planned

Results

  1. 2025–2026GWTC-4.0 (first part of O4, O4a): 128 significant events, about 218 in the catalogue in total; the remaining O4 candidates (~173) will follow in later releases — LVK
  2. Oct 2026Limits on ultralight dark matter from gravitational-wave interferometer data — Nature Physics (research articles)