NASA has selected a new round of industry proposals to mature critical technologies for its Habitable Worlds Observatory concept, a future flagship space telescope designed to directly image Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars and study their atmospheres for signs of life.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory would be the first mission capable of directly detecting potentially habitable planets around nearby stars and analysing their chemical composition to search for indicators of biological activity. Beyond exoplanet science, the observatory would also support a broad range of astrophysics investigations and contribute to technologies relevant to future human exploration of Mars, the solar system and beyond.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the mission represents the type of ambitious science uniquely suited to the agency. He said the observatory has the potential to deliver breakthroughs that could help answer fundamental questions about life in the universe, adding that NASA intends to move with urgency to accelerate timelines wherever possible.
To meet its science objectives, the Habitable Worlds Observatory would require unprecedented engineering performance. The telescope’s optical system would need to remain stable to within the width of an atom during observations, while its coronagraph — an instrument used to block out starlight to reveal faint orbiting planets — would need to be thousands of times more capable than any coronagraph previously flown in space. The observatory is also being designed for in-space servicing to extend its operational lifetime and enable scientific upgrades over time.
To advance the readiness of these technologies, NASA has awarded three-year, fixed-price contracts to seven companies: Astroscale U.S. Inc., BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems, Busek Co. Inc., L3Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Zecoat Co. Inc.
Shawn Domagal-Goldman, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division, said the mission builds on the technological and scientific foundations established by previous flagship observatories. He said the selected awards are a key part of NASA’s incubator approach for future missions, combining government leadership with commercial innovation to rapidly mature technologies that are not yet feasible today.
The newly selected proposals continue a multi-year collaboration between NASA and industry that began in 2017 with the agency’s System-Level Segmented Telescope Design studies and was expanded through large space telescope technology awards in 2024. Together, these efforts will inform NASA’s planning for the Habitable Worlds Observatory as it builds on lessons learned from the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
NASA said the work supported under the new contracts will play a critical role in shaping the observatory’s final design and ensuring the technologies required to search for life beyond Earth are ready for future mission development.
