NASA has selected SpaceX of Starbase, Texas, to provide launch services for the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission. The $100 million contract will support a five-year survey to detect and observe asteroids and comets that pose an impact threat to Earth.
The NEO Surveyor spacecraft features a 20-inch telescope designed to identify both bright and dark asteroids, with a focus on those larger than 140 meters in diameter. This is crucial for NASA’s planetary defense efforts, as these objects have the potential to cause regional damage upon impact.
The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in no earlier than September 2027. Multiple companies are contracted to build the spacecraft and its instrumentation, including BAE Systems SMS, Space Dynamics Laboratory, and Teledyne.
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office and Planetary Missions Program Office will oversee the project, with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory providing program management. The mission aims to discover at least two-thirds of unknown NEOs larger than 140 meters in diameter within five years.
For more information about NEO Surveyor, visit https://science.nasa.gov/mission/neo-surveyor/.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-planetary-defense-space-telescope-launch-services-contract