Interessant ist ebenfalls, dass das wissenschaftliche Programm bis 2025, genannt "Cosmic Vision", vier Fragestellungen folgt:
Auszug aus dem Artikel auf ww.esa.int:
1. What are the conditions for life and planetary formation?
1.1 From gas and dust to stars and planets (ISO, HST, Herschel, Astro-F)
1.2 From exo-planets to bio-markers (Hipparcos, GAIA, Corot)
1.3 Life and habitability in the Solar System (all Solar system missions, in particular Giotto, Huygens, Cluster, Mars-Express, Rosetta, Double Star, Venus Express, BepiColombo)
2. How does the Solar System work?
2.1 From the Sun to the edge of the Solar System (Ulysses, SOHO, Cluster, Double Star, Solar-B, Solar Orbiter)
2.2 The building blocks of the Solar System (Giotto, Rosetta, SMART-1, Chandrayaan-1 and planetary missions)
3.What are the fundamental laws of the Universe?
3.1 Exploring the limits of contemporary physics (Microscope)
3.2 The gravitational wave Universe (LISA PF, LISA)
3.3 Matter under extreme conditions (HST, JWST, Newton, Integral)
4. How did the Universe originate and what is it made of?
4.1 The early Universe (Planck)
4.2 The Universe taking shape (Planck, HST, JWST)
4.3 The evolving violent Universe (HST, JWST, Newton, Integral)