SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturing company, has been awarded a $100 million firm-fixed-price task order by NASA to serve as the launch services provider for its Near-Earth Object, or NEO, Surveyor mission.
Protecting the Planet Through the NEO Surveyor Mission
The agency said Friday the NEO Surveyor mission is intended to enhance its planetary defense capabilities. Under the task order, the Starbase, Texas-based firm is tasked with launching a 20-inch infrared telescope capable of detecting and observing asteroids and comets within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit that may pose a risk to Earth.
The NEO Surveyor mission will be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Florida in September 2027 at the earliest. It will conduct a five-year baseline survey to identify two-thirds of the unknown NEOs exceeding 140 meters in diameter, which are capable of inflicting significant damage to Earth in case of collision.
The telescope will be equipped with two heat-sensitive infrared imaging channels to accurately measure the NEOs, including bright and dark asteroids. NASA can utilize these data to learn about the NEOs’ shapes, composition, rotational states and orbits.
The task order, awarded under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity NASA Launch Services II contract, is overseen by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, while the Planetary Missions Program Office manages the NEO Surveyor program. BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems, Space Dynamics Laboratory and Teledyne are under contract to construct the spacecraft and its instrumentation.
