Sun–Earth L1
NEO Surveyor
NASA infrared planetary-defense telescope designed to find hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets before they are discovered from Earth.
NASA classifies NEO Surveyor as a future mission and says it is targeted for a no-earlier-than September 2027 launch.
View in 3D map ↗Official mission site ↗The mission
NEO Surveyor is NASA's first space telescope purpose-built for planetary defense surveys. It will use infrared observations to find potentially hazardous asteroids and comets, including objects approaching from the Sun's direction that ground observatories can miss.
The launch
- Launch
- NET September 2027
- Launch location
- Not documented
- Launch vehicle
- Not documented
- Orbit
- Not documented
Mission timeline
Follow the mission through its available trajectory data in the full 3D solar-system map.
- Now
Future mission status
Current · Sun–Earth L1
NASA presents NEO Surveyor as a future mission in development for planetary defense.
Open milestone source ↗Objectives
- 01
Find potentially hazardous near-Earth objects before they threaten Earth.
- 02
Detect asteroids and comets in infrared, including objects approaching from the Sunward direction.
- 03
Improve planetary-defense survey completeness for small bodies in the inner solar system.
Spacecraft
NEO Surveyor
A dedicated infrared space telescope for planetary-defense surveys of near-Earth asteroids and comets.
- Manufacturer
- NASA
Gallery
2 images from NEO Surveyor.
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