SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems) is a five-year M-class mission proposed to ESA Cosmic Vision. Its purpose is to image and characterize long-period extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks in the vi
sible (450 - 900 nm) at a spectral resolution of about 40 using both spectroscopy and polarimetry. By 2020/22, present and near-term instruments will have found several tens of planets that SPICES will be able to observe and study in detail. Equipped with a 1.5 m telescope, SPICES can preferentially access exoplanets located at several AUs (0.5-10 AU) from nearby stars ($<$25 pc) with masses ranging from a few Jupiter masses to Super Earths ($sim$2 Earth radii, $sim$10 M$_{oplus}$) as well as circumstellar disks as faint as a few times the zodiacal light in the Solar System.
We describe an online database for extra-solar planetary-mass candidates, updated regularly as new data are available. We first discuss criteria for the inclusion of objects in the catalog: definition of a planet and several aspects of the confidence
level of planet candidates. {bf We are led to point out the conflict between sharpness of belonging or not to a catalogue and fuzziness of the confidence level.} We then describe the different tables of extra-solar planetary systems, including unconfirmed candidates (which will ultimately be confirmed, or not, by direct imaging). It also provides online tools: histogrammes of planet and host star data, cross-correlations between these parameters and some VO services. Future evolutions of the database are presented.
In this outlook we describe what could be the next steps of the direct characterization of habitable exoplanets after first the medium and large mission projects and investigate the benefits of the spectroscopic and direct imaging approaches. We show
that after third and fourth generation missions foreseeable for the next 100 years, we will face a very long era before being able to see directly the morphology of extrasolar organisms.
Searching for life in the universe will make use of several large space missions in the visible and thermal infrared, each with increasing spectral and angular resolution. They will require long-term planning over the coming decades. We present the n
ecessity for building an international structure to coordinate activities for the next several decades and sketch the possible structure and role of a dedicated international institution.
