There are exciting opportunities in astronomy both in ground and space-based telescopes. New capabilities are coming online, and the community is gearing up for the next decadal survey. Four flagship missions are under concept study funded by NASA in preparation for inputs into the next decadal survey. The interim report of these missions suggests detector needs with various degrees of required development. Additionally, future missions require advanced characterization in order to fully harness the capabilities of detectors both novel and mature.
At the same time, exciting developments are taking place in detector innovation and maturity. WFIRST is taking silicon-based photon-counting detectors such as electron multiplying CCDs to new levels of maturity. New concepts for photon counting are being developed. For example, the quanta image sensor and linear mode mercury cadmium telluride-based avalanche photodiode arrays continue to make progress in photon counting in the infrared spectral range. CMOS-based scientific detectors are making rapid advancements in development and mission infusion. Furthermore, mature detectors such as HxRGs and deep depletion CCDs are being tested with realistic data to minimize systematic limitations.
It is timely to take stock of the status of detectors at hand, canvas the field for up-and-coming technologies, and also assess the needs of the future and take measure of the technology gaps. The purpose of this special section is to capture this information in one place to aid the development of future instruments and missions based on new capabilities.

Related topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Detectors in UV/Optical/NIR
• Detectors in novel architectures and designs or materials
• Detectors in Silicon, III-N, Oxides, MCT, III-V, II-VI, etc.
• Detectors for precision astronomy
• Characterization
• In-flight performance predictions and modeling
• System level performance and modeling
• Suborbital performance
• Radiation and other environmental testing

This special section focuses on detectors, their innovation, and their impact on instrumentation and missions—near term and long term. All submissions will be peer reviewed. Peer review will commence immediately upon manuscript submission. Once the special section is opened online, each paper will be published as soon as the copyedited and typeset proofs are approved by the author. Manuscripts should be submitted online at https://JATIS.msubmit.net. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included.