NASA Partners With SpaceX To Launch NEO Surveyor, a Mission To Detect Asteroid Threats

A contract has been awarded by NASA to SpaceX for the launch of its Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor spacecraft, which is intended to identify asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to Earth. The mission is set to launch no earlier than September 2027 from Florida's Space Coast using a Falcon 9 rocket. The contract for the launch and related services has been valued at approximately $100 million. The spacecraft is expected to enhance planetary defense efforts by detecting and characterizing near-Earth objects that could potentially cause significant damage upon impact. The mission will be operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, with support from various scientific institutions.

Mission Objectives and Capabilities

As per reports, according to NASA, the NEO Surveyor will be positioned at the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From this vantage point, the spacecraft will use its 50-centimetre infrared telescope to scan space in two infrared wavelengths. This will allow the detection of both bright and dark asteroids, including those that are difficult to observe with existing Earth-based telescopes. The goal of the mission is to locate at least two-thirds of undiscovered NEOs measuring 140 meters or more in diameter, which are large enough to cause regional devastation if they collide with Earth.

Planetary Defense Efforts and Previous Missions

The NEO Surveyor mission follows previous planetary defense initiatives involving SpaceX. In 2021, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, successfully impacting the asteroid Dimorphos to test the feasibility of altering an asteroid's trajectory. In 2024, the European Space Agency's Hera mission was also launched using a Falcon 9 to study the aftermath of the DART impact on the Didymos system. These missions are part of ongoing efforts to develop technologies capable of mitigating potential asteroid threats in the future.