NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch its Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission from Starbase, Texas. This mission aims to find and observe asteroids and comets that could be a threat to our planet.
The fixed price for the launch contract is about $100 million. This amount covers the launch services and other mission-related expenses. The NEO Surveyor mission is set to lift off no earlier than September 2027 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida.
The mission features a special telescope, nearly 20 inches wide, designed to detect asteroids in two infrared wavelengths. This technology allows it to find both bright and dark asteroids. Dark asteroids are particularly hard to spot but can be dangerous. The data collected will enhance NASA’s planetary defense efforts, focusing on discovering and characterizing near-Earth objects (NEOs) that come within 30 million miles of our orbit.
The survey will last five years and aims to locate at least two-thirds of the unknown NEOs larger than 140 meters (or 460 feet). These sizable objects could cause significant damage if they were to collide with Earth. The telescope’s infrared imaging will provide better size measurements and insights into the composition, shapes, and orbits of these asteroids.
This mission falls under NASA’s Planetary Science Division. It is managed by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which was formed in 2016 to oversee efforts in planetary defense. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Southern California, is developing the project.
A number of aerospace and engineering companies are helping to build the spacecraft, including BAE Systems SMS, Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne. The University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will support operations, while Caltech will handle data processing and analysis. Caltech manages JPL for NASA, and the mission leadership involves teams from the University of California, Los Angeles.
The launch services will be managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
For more information about NEO Surveyor, check out the details here: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/
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Kennedy Space Center, Launch Services Office, Launch Services Program, NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor Space Telescope), Planetary Defense Coordination Office, Planetary Science Division, Science Mission Directorate, Space Operations Mission Directorate
