NASA’s $1.2 billion plan to explore the history and evolution of the universe enters Phase B

NASA’s PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics) has entered Phase B, moving the ambitious space telescope into the next stage of development as it aims to study the history and evolution of the universe.

According to the US space agency, the mission has now entered a development phase focused on advancing its preliminary design and developing the technologies needed for the observatory.

If the mission stays on schedule, PRIMA is targeted for launch in 2033 and is planned to operate for five years. The project’s cost is capped at $1.2 billion, excluding launch and other non-project costs.

All about NASA’s PRIMA mission

PRIMA will use a 5.9-foot telescope to conduct deep and sensitive surveys of the universe in far-infrared light. The observations are expected to help bridge an important gap between existing infrared observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and radio telescopes.

The observatory will be the first mission in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions known as Probe Explorers, which are part of the agency’s longstanding Explorers Program.

“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe. It will unveil the obscure across cosmic time to better understand the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA said PRIMA will study radiant energy that emerges in the far-infrared to investigate a range of questions about the universe. These include how planets outside our solar system form, how galaxies and their black holes have grown and evolved over cosmic history, and how dust and heavy elements have accumulated over time.

By studying these processes, scientists hope to better understand how the universe evolved and why it looks the way it does today.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will manage the PRIMA mission.

About NASA’s Explorers Program

The Explorers Program is NASA’s oldest continuous program designed to provide relatively frequent and low-cost access to space for scientific investigations. It supports principal investigator-led missions relevant to the Science Mission Directorate’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs.

Since Explorer 1 launched in 1958, the program has launched more than 100 missions. Explorer 1 discovered Earth’s radiation belts, while other missions under the program, including Uhuru and the Cosmic Background Explorer, contributed to discoveries that led to Nobel Prizes for their investigators.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the Explorers Program for the Science Mission Directorate, which oversees research and exploration across Earth science, space weather, the solar system and the universe.