The starshade has emerged as a viable technology for the observation and characterization of exoplanets. Since the inception of the starshade, the field has developed rapidly, and the advances are widely spread in the literature and hard to find. This special section of JATIS is intended to provide a centralized contemporary reference for this exciting and capable technology.

The topics of interest for this special section are as follows:

• Error budgeting
• Starshade-based missions (at all scales)
• Performance modeling
• Other science enabled by starshades, specifically non-exoplanet missions
• Data processing, the reduction of starshade images to science data
• Optical modeling
• Optics of starshades
• Testing and verification of starshades
• Mission planning
• Image postprocessing
• Instrument design for use with a starshade
• Petal edge and face scattering
• Scaling rules
• Testing and verification
• Design (apodization) optimization of the starshade
• Formation sensing, maintenance and operations

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines and submit the paper via the online submission system. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Regular submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.

The guest editors are also seeking for comprehensive review papers in the areas listed above. Authors interested in submitting a review paper to this special section should contact the guest editors with a brief proposal of the paper.

The Origins Space Telescope (Origins) Mission Concept Study is one of four large mission studies commissioned by NASA for the Astro2020 decadal survey. Origins traces cosmic history, from the formation of the first galaxies and the rise of metals to the development of habitable worlds and present-day life. Origins operates in the wavelength range 2.8 to 588 microns and is more than 1000 times more sensitive than its predecessors due to its large, cold (4.5 K) telescope and advanced instruments. This special section is dedicated to papers describing the Origins observatory, trade studies that led to the baseline mission concept, and key technologies. The Origins Mission Concept Study benefited greatly from community input, and we look forward to any contributions to this special section. Papers are expected to run from five to 20 pages, and to pass a peer review process before publication.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Mission concept overview
• Science to design traceability
• Cryothermal architecture
• Telescope:
  
  • Mid-Infrared Transit Spectrometer instrument
  • Origins Survey Spectrometer instrument
  • Far-infrared Imager Polarimeter instrument
  • Heterodyne Receiver for Origins instrument

• Origins key technologies:
  
  • Mid-infrared detector development for high stability
  • Far-infrared detector development for high sensitivity and large format
  • Readout electronics for far-infrared detectors
  • Cryocooler technologies

• Mission level topics:
  
  • Mission requirements
  • Operations concept
  • Communications and data management
  • Thermal analysis
  • Materials: trades and selections
  • Orbits: trades and selections
  • Attitude control system
  • Unique aspects of Integration and test

To submit a manuscript for consideration in the special section, please prepare the manuscript according to the journal guidelines and submit the paper via the online submission system. 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. A cover letter indicating that the submission is intended for this special section should be included with the paper. Manuscripts published in the Proceedings of SPIE are welcome for submission to this special section after proper revision to meet the standards of a journal publication. Regular submissions will be peer-reviewed in accordance with the journal's established policies and procedures.