The scientific payload concept we are proposing to develop is an Integral-Field Imager and Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (⨏ISPEx), an highly innovative instrument in which a single front-optics is used to feed light to a camera and imaging spectrometer, both co-aligned on the same Field of View. The camera is capable to acquire images at different visible wavelengths by means of a Tunable Liquid Crystal Filter (TLCF) whereas a VIS-IR integral field imaging spectrometer records a hyperspectral cube with a single acquisition through a Coded-Mask Optical Reformatter (CMOR). The implementation of the ⨏ISPEx concept will result in great advantages in terms of payload integration, instrument operations and scientific return with respect to current configurations. The enabling technologies (TLCF, CMOR) at the core of the ⨏ISPEx design will be fully characterized and tested to increase their respective TRL. With the introduction of visible and infrared Imaging Spectrometers about 20 years ago, we have assisted to a dramatic enhancement of the scientific return achieved by space mission launched for the exploration of the Solar System. This innovative class of instruments are in fact able to conjugate together the imaging capabilities of the cameras with the spectral resolution accomplished by spectrographs. By exploiting such capabilities, planetary scientists can retrieve and map the physical and chemical properties of a target body and to correlate them with morphological features on planetary surfaces or with dynamical structures of the atmospheres. It is not a case that such instruments have become an essential payload on many planetary exploration missions since they have demonstrated their capabilities to allow a better understanding of the composition, processes and evolution of solar system bodies. The first imaging spectrometers aboard planetary missions were launched by Russian-French (ISS aboard Mars96) and US-lead (NIMS aboard Galileo) teams. Due to their “primitive” optical design and 1D infrared detectors, these instruments relied on whiskbroom design, in which a single spectrum (or even a subset of it) of the hyperspectral data cube was acquired in time through successive acquisitions. As a result of this limitation, the collection of a full hyperspectral image was a quite long and complex process needing two to three scan mechanisms to accomplish it. A great design improvement was possible thanks to the introduction of 2D detectors on Cassini-VIMS/VIS and MarsExpress-OMEGA/VNIR in which bidimensional CCD sensors were used to collect both spatial and spectral information at the same time. This innovation, led by the Italian community (ASI, ex-CNR institutes, now INAF-IAPS, and Officine Galileo, now Leonardo) allowed the realization of more compact and better performing pushbroom spectrometers. In this case the hyperspectral cube is built in time taking advantage of the satellite movement or using a scan mirror, thus reducing the number of mechanisms. A further innovation has been attained with the introduction of infrared 2D detectors which have allowed to built a new class of very successful VIS-IR imaging spectrometer (VIRTIS) covering a wider spectral range and employed on three consecutive missions (Rosetta, VenusExpress, Dawn). These instruments have allowed the Italian community to foster further scientific-technical experience and international recognition in the imaging spectroscopy field: all projects in current operative phase (JIRAM on Juno, VIHI on BepiColombo) and in preparation (MA_MISS on ExoMars, MAJIS on Juice) have benefitted from these past experiences. More recently, the italian community has attained also great advancements in the field of high resolution color cameras (Rosetta/OSIRIS WAC, BepiColombo/HRIC-STC) whereas the color capabilities relies on traditional solutions, e.g. employing filter wheel mechanism or filters embedded on the detector. As a result of the increased number of successful flying experiments, the italian scientific and technical community involved on cameras and imaging spectrometers is rapidly growing, resulting in new national and international synergies with other communities, like the many involved in the Earth-observation programs, sharing similar observation and processing techniques. For this reason, any technological advancement reached by means of new instrumentation is potentially valuable for the entire remote sensing community involved in Planetary and Earth Sciences. Starting from those past experiences and taking into account recent innovations achieved in the field of photonic research, we are investigating a further evolution in the design of color Cameras and VIS-IR Imaging Spectrometers for planetary exploration with the aim to remove mechanism and to facilitate the simultaneous acquisition of color images and hyperspectral data. The proposed approach shall be applicable not only to remote sensing payloads observing from orbital platforms but also for in-situ (landers, rovers) and laboratory setups. We have completed a Phase-A study of the ƒISPEx instrument for space applications (exploration of a Near-Earth Asteroid) and realized a fully functional breadboard of the VIS imaging channel, including the Liquid Crystal Tunable Filter, operating in the 0.42-0.73 µm spectral range with the aim to increase TRL to level 4. The breadboard of the VIS spectral channel, an in particular its principal component, the Coded-Mask Optical Reformatter, is currently under realization. The ƒISPEx instrument concept has been presented at SPIE 2022 conference and at the Italian Planetary Sciences Congress. REFERENCE: G. Filacchione, M. Tarabini, E. Mazzotta Epifani, M. Ciarniello, G. Piccioni, A. Raponi, B. Saggin, Z. Kanuchova, P. Palumbo, I. Guerri, A. Taiti, I. Ficai-Veltroni, M. Barilli, S. Pelli, F. Cosi, A. Galiano, M. Zambelli, D. Biondi, A. Boccaccini, F. Nuccilli, M. Giusti. The Integral-Field Imager and Spectrometer for planetary exploration (ƒISPEx), Proceedings Volume 12188, Advances in Optical and Mechanical Technologies for Telescopes and Instrumentation V; 1218809 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2626982 Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada