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NASA Selects SpaceX for NEO Surveyor Mission Launch

NASA has officially chosen SpaceX, based in Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for its upcoming Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission. This initiative aims to identify and monitor asteroids and comets that could present an impact risk to our planet.

The selection comes through a fixed-price launch service task order under NASA’s indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity Launch Services II contract. The launch service, which encompasses additional mission-related expenses, is estimated to cost NASA around $100 million. The NEO Surveyor mission is slated for launch no earlier than September 2027, utilizing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, departing from Florida.

Central to the NEO Surveyor mission is a sophisticated scientific instrument— a nearly 20-inch (50-centimeter) telescope that will function across two heat-sensing infrared wavelengths. This capability allows the telescope to detect both bright and dark asteroids, with the latter being particularly challenging to identify with current technologies. The mission is aligned with NASA’s planetary defense strategy, which focuses on the discovery and characterization of potentially hazardous asteroids and comets that approach within a distance of 30 million miles from Earth’s orbit. Collectively, these celestial objects are designated as near-Earth objects, or NEOs.

NEO Surveyor is designed to conduct a comprehensive five-year survey to locate at least two-thirds of the unknown NEOs measuring over 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter. These larger objects pose a significant risk, capable of causing extensive regional devastation if they were to collide with Earth. Utilizing its two heat-sensitive infrared imaging channels, the telescope will enhance the precision in estimating the sizes of NEOs and will offer insights into their structure, rotational behavior, and orbital trajectories.

The mission is directed by NASA’s Planetary Science Division, part of the Science Mission Directorate located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Oversight of this program falls under the jurisdiction of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which was formed in 2016 to spearhead the agency’s planetary defense endeavors. The project’s management is handled by NASA’s Planetary Missions Program Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, while development is being led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

A variety of aerospace and engineering firms have been contracted for the development of the spacecraft and its components. Notable contributors include BAE Systems SMS (Space & Mission Systems), Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne. The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, will provide operational support. Additionally, the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) will be in charge of processing survey data and generating the mission’s data products, with Caltech managing JPL on behalf of NASA. Leadership of the mission team includes collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles, while NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida oversees launch service management.

To learn more about the NEO Surveyor mission, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/

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Source
www.nasa.gov