Considerations for a next-generation Great Observatory class space-based interferometer for far-infrared astronomy

Astronomy at far-infrared (far-IR) wavelengths is essential to our understanding of the evolution of the cosmos. However, an absence of high angular resolution observations in the far-IR, from roughly 30-300 µm) inhibits our ability to address important science questions, and due to the opacity of Earth's atmosphere, a space-based solution is needed. Here we envisage what a far-IR Great Observatory class mission might look like in the context of the Origins Space Telescope (OST) and the Space Infrared Interferometric Telescope (SPIRIT), and consider multiple point designs for a two element, structurally connected spatial-spectral space-based far-IR interferometer.