The 35th annual conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems 2025 in Görlitz, Germany

The Science Archives, managed by the ESAC Science Data Centre (ESDC), continue to serve as the definitive repositories for ESA mission data, safeguarding scientific knowledge and ensuring global accessibility for the research community.

This year marks a major milestone: the publication of the first operational release of the Integral Science Legacy Archive (ISLA), now established as the official archive for INTEGRAL mission data. Developed in close collaboration with mission scientists, ISLA delivers a modern, user-centric experience, transitioning from conventional data access to specialized science portals tailored for high-energy astrophysics.

ISLA introduces a visually engaging and highly interactive interface, powered by cutting-edge web frameworks such as Angular and a suite of reusable components, together with a robust backend built on Spring Boot. The integration of the ESASky portal, via its API, enables seamless exploration of high-energy sources, exposure maps, GRB catalogs, and related publications, as well as dedicated sections for community products and catalog exploration.

ISLA also provides a direct link from its data search interface to the data exploitation platform, ESA Datalabs, where INTEGRAL data can be processed with OSA, without the need to install software or download data.

Importantly, ISLA has served as a precursor for many of the concepts and reusable widgets now adopted across other ESA Science Archives, while also benefiting from shared components developed in parallel by other teams. This collaborative and modular approach ensures a smooth, intuitive, and user-friendly experience, accelerates the integration of new features, and supports rapid development and future scalability.

This operational release demonstrates ESA’s commitment to technological innovation, robust software development, and international collaboration in the realm of astronomical data access and discovery.