REDONGRA has two main objectives: to coordinate and maximize Spain’s contribution in gravity science astronomy and prepare the next generation of scientists, as well as infrastructure for future flagship missions such as LISA and the Einstein Telescope. The network will develop a roadmap for Spain’s strategic participation in these missions in order to advance its understanding of the universe through the detection and analysis of gravitational waves.
The network brings together 20 top-level research groups from all over Spain, including institutions that are already actively involved in important international collaborations such as LIGO, Virgo, the Einstein Telescope, LISA and the Púlsares Synchronization Networks (PTA). The ICE-CSIC, as one of the central pillars of the network, has a crucial role at both scientific and institutional level. The institute’s Gravitational Astronomy-LISA research group, led by Carlos F. Sopuerta, Miquel Nofrarias and Sascha Husa, has led Spain’s contributions to ESA’s LISA Pathfinder mission (completed in 2018) and currently leads the development of instrumentation and data analysis, as well as the ground segment for the future LISA mission.
The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission will be the first gravitational-wave space observatory. This mission was adopted by ESA in 2024 and is scheduled for launch in 2035. It will consist of a constellation of three spacecraft separated by 2.5 million km (more than six times the Earth-Moon distance) in triangular formation, following the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. In this way, LISA will scan the entire sky beyond Earth’s orbit, simultaneously obtaining both polarizations of gravitational waves.
REDONGRA coordinates 20 research groups in Spain to boost gravitational wave astronomy and prepare national participation in key missions such as LISA and the Einstein Telescope
"The REDONGRA network offers a unique opportunity for the growing Spanish community working in gravitational wave astronomy, which will enhance participation in current and future international collaborations (LVK, ET, LISA, etc.)," says Carlos F. Sopuerta, researcher at ICE-.CSIC and the Space Studies Institute of Catalonia (IEEC).
Network activities started in May 2025 and there are already different events scheduled for the rest of the year. First, the Iberian Gravitational Wave Meeting was held from 23 to 25 June, where all members of the network met to review progress, share the latest research developments and plan collaborative projects for next year. Other activities for this year include the tenth anniversary of the first detection of gravitational waves, on 15 and 16 September at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), in Majorca; the second meeting of LISA Spain, on 23 and 24 October, at the CSIC, in Madrid; and the tenth anniversary of the launch of the LISA Pathfinder mission, on 3 December at ICE-CSIC in Barcelona. In the future, the network will also organize a school on gravitational wave physics, where there will be a comprehensive training programme for graduate students starting in the field of gravitational wave astronomy.
This new phase in the development of REDONGRA represents a significant expansion of its previous iterations and places Spain at the centre of a rapidly evolving international panorama. By aligning world-class research institutions under a shared vision and investing in training and outreach, REDONGRA is poised to turn the science of gravitational waves not just into a scientific frontier but into a national stronghold.
The collaboration of IFIC in REDONGRA
For its part, the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC), located in the scientific-academic area of the Science Park University of Valencia (PCUV) and joint centre of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the University of Valencia (UV), counts, among others, with Daniel Figueroa, who represents the IFIC in the international collaborations ET (Einstein Telescope) and LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), and with Agustín Sánchez Losa, coordinator of the REDONGRA node at the IFIC and member of VEGA. The research carried out by Figueroa is contributing to the calculation of the spectral form of the gravitational wave funds created in the early instants of the universe, both those coming from cosmic inflation and others hypothetically created in phase transitions, by the dynamics of topological defects, for example cosmic strings, or by the non-perturbative production of elementary particles. The IFIC leads the lattice (non-linear) calculations of these signals, whose spectral form is essential to determine precisely for a correct identification of physics beyond the standard model, in case of future detection.
IFIC contributes to REDONGRA with pioneering research on the origin of gravitational waves and their correlation with neutrino emissions, key in multi-messenger astronomy and the identification of extreme astrophysical phenomena
For his part, Sánchez, together with several members of VEGA, are working on real-time searches for possible countermeasures to the gravitational waves detected by the LIGO-VIRGO-KAGRA interferometers in the KM3NeT neutrino telescope. Alert tracking is key in multi-messenger astronomy. In 2017 a coincidence of gravitational waves and a gamma ray explosion confirmed the detection of the first observed fusion of neutron stars and their kilonova and in the same year a coincidence of a highly energetic neutrino from a blazar in a state of high emission in rays gamma provided the first evidence of a cosmic neutrino source. "The simultaneous detection of a gravitational wave with an emission of neutrinos would be a historic milestone in multi-messenger astronomy that would allow us to have a global view of the source that emitted them and the astrophysical mechanisms in it", explains Sánchez.
The REDONGRA network comprises the following institutions: Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC); Centre for Energy, Environment and Technology Research (CIEMAT); Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC); Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics (IAC); Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB); Institute of the Structure of Matter (IEM-CSIC); High Energy Physics Institute (IFAE); Cantabria Institute of Physics (IFCA-CSIC/UC); Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC-CSIC/UV); Institute for Theoretical Physics (IFT-CSIC/UAM); Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (IGFAE); University of Alicante (UA); University of Cádiz (UCA); University of Granada (UGR); University of Balearic Islands (UIB); Polytechnic University of Catalonia - BarcelonaTech (UPC); Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM); University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU); University of Salamanca (USAL) and University of Valencia (UV).
Source: IFIC