Space instrumentation is one of the key parts of any space mission. Payloads are crucial for observation and they gather the scientific data, which is essential for better understanding of the Earth, our solar system, and beyond. This will help us meet today’s and tomorrow’s societal needs, such as finding answers to climate change and monitoring its impact. The section is specialized in the development of optical space instrumentation for Earth observation, exoplanetary research, space weather monitoring and gravitational wave instrumentation. The section has developed expertise in space imagers, spectrometers, spectro-polarimetry and interferometry.