Stellar and galactic environment survey (SAGE)

This paper describes a proposed high resolution soft X-ray and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopy mission to carry out a survey of Stellar and Galactic Environments (SAGE). The payload is based on novel diffraction grating technology which has already been proven in a sub-orbital space mission and which is ready to fly on a satellite platform with minimal development. Much of the technical detail of the instrumentation has been reported elsewhere and we concentrate our discussion here on the scientific goals of a SAGE base-line mission, demonstrating the scientific importance of high resolution spectroscopy in the Extreme Ultraviolet for the study of stars and the local interstellar medium.