TAUVEX: status in 2011

Abstract

We present a short history of the TAUVEX instrument, conceived to provide multi-band wide-field imaging in the ultraviolet, emphasizing the lack of sufficient and aggressive support on the part of the different space agencies that dealt with this basic science mission. First conceived in 1985 and selected by the Israel Space Agency in 1989 as its first priority payload, TAUVEX is fast becoming one of the longest-living space project of space astronomy. After being denied a launch on a national Israeli satellite, and then not flying on the Spectrum X-Gamma (SRG) international observatory, it was manifested since 2003 as part of ISRO’s GSAT-4 Indian satellite to be launched in the late 2000s. However, two months before the launch, in February 2010, it was dismounted from its agreed-upon platform. This proved to be beneficial, since GSAT-4 and its launcher were lost on April 15 2010 due to the failure of the carrier rocket’s 3rd stage. TAUVEX is now stored in ISRO’s clean room in Bangalore with no firm indications when or on what platform it might be launched.