This list contains proposals for space telescopes, space-based (situated in space) astronomical observatories. It is a list of past and present space observatory plans, concepts, and proposals. For observatories in orbit, see list of space telescopes. Unlike that list, this one includes concepts and proposals that are unlikely ever to be launched, as they may have been cancelled or were only proposals.
Name | Agency | Type | Proposed launch date | Status | Proposed location | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TOLIMAN | NASA | visible | 2024[ needs update ] | Proposal | Low Earth orbit | [1] |
Xuntian | CNSA | ultraviolet, visible, infrared | 2026 | under construction | Low Earth orbit | [2] |
PLATO | ESA | visible | 2026 | Under construction | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | |
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly WFIRST) | NASA | infrared | 2026-2027 | confirmed and named 2020 | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | [3] [4] |
Spektr-UV (WSO-UV) | Roscosmos | ultraviolet | 2030 | funded | Geosynchronous orbit | [5] [6] |
LiteBIRD | JAXA | millimeter radio | 2032 | Approved for development | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | [7] [8] |
AXIS (Advanced X-Ray Imaging Satellite) | NASA | X-Ray | 2032 | early planning | Low Earth orbit | |
Taiji | CNSA/CAS | gravitational waves | 2033 | phase 1 of 3-phase development completed | Heliocentric orbit | [10] [11] |
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) | ESA | gravitational waves | 2037 | Approved for development | Solar Earth-trailing orbit (approx. 1 AU) | [12] |
AstroSat-2 | ISRO | Near Ultraviolet, Far Ultraviolet, Visible | TBD | – | Low Earth orbit | [13] |
Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) | NASA | Ultraviolet, Visible, Infrared | 2041 | early planning 'Phase 1' | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | |
X-Ray Great Observatory (nicknamed Fire) | NASA | X-Ray | 2047 | early planning 'Phase 1' | possibly Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | |
Far-Infrared Great Observatory (nicknamed Smoke) | NASA | Far-Infrared | 2051 | early planning 'Phase 1' | possibly Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | |
Galileo Solar Space Telescope | INPE | Visible and ultraviolet | ? | Admission process at AEB | Low Earth orbit or | [15] [16] |
Name | Agency | Type | Proposed launch date | Status | Proposed location | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
X-Ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy Mission (XEUS) | ESA | X-ray | Merged into IXO | – | [17] | |
Constellation-X | NASA | X-ray | – | |||
International X-ray Observatory (IXO) | NASA & ESA & JAXA | X-ray | No funding 2011; rebooted as ATHENA | – | [18] | |
Exoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer (EXCEDE) | NASA | ? | 2016 | – | Sun-synchronous Earth orbit, 2000 km | [19] [20] |
SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory | NASA | ? | 2015 | No funding 2010 | – | [21] |
Darwin Mission | ESA | ? | – | – | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | [22] |
Terrestrial Planet Finder | NASA | ? | TBA | No funding 2011 | – | [23] |
Dark Universe Observatory | NASA | ? | Superseded by Roman/WFIRST | Earth orbit (600 km) | [24] [25] | |
Joint Dark Energy Mission | NASA & DOE | ? | – | [26] | ||
Astromag Free-Flyer (Particles) | NASA | ? | 1 January 2005 | – | Earth orbit (500 km) | [27] [28] |
VSOP-2 (Astro-G) (Radio) | JAXA | ? | 2012 | Cancelled 2011 | – | [29] |
SAFIR | NASA | far infrared | Superseded by Origins | Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point | ref? | |
For launch in the 2030s, NASA is evaluating four possible designs: the Origins Space Telescope, Lynx X-ray Observatory, Habitable Exoplanets Observatory (HabEx), and Large UV Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR). [30]
Balloon-borne telescopes have been in use since the 1950s. A 20–30 meter balloon telescope has been suggested. [31] The balloon would be transparent on one side, and have a circular reflecting mirror on the other side. [31] There are two main designs using this principle. [31]
A space telescope is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO-2 launched in 1968, and the Soviet Orion 1 ultraviolet telescope aboard space station Salyut 1 in 1971. Space telescopes avoid several problems caused by the atmosphere, including the absorption or scattering of certain wavelengths of light, obstruction by clouds, and distortions due to atmospheric refraction such as twinkling. Space telescopes can also observe dim objects during the daytime, and they avoid light pollution which ground-based observatories encounter. They are divided into two types: Satellites which map the entire sky, and satellites which focus on selected astronomical objects or parts of the sky and beyond. Space telescopes are distinct from Earth imaging satellites, which point toward Earth for satellite imaging, applied for weather analysis, espionage, and other types of information gathering.
The Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), is an infrared space telescope launched in 2003, that was deactivated when operations ended on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was the third space telescope dedicated to infrared astronomy, following IRAS (1983) and ISO (1995–1998). It was the first spacecraft to use an Earth-trailing orbit, later used by the Kepler planet-finder.
The Space Interferometry Mission, or SIM, also known as SIM Lite, was a planned space telescope proposed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in conjunction with contractor Northrop Grumman. One of the main goals of the mission was the hunt for Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of nearby stars other than the Sun. SIM was postponed several times and finally cancelled in 2010. In addition to detecting extrasolar planets, SIM would have helped astronomers construct a map of the Milky Way galaxy. Other important tasks would have included collecting data to help pinpoint stellar masses for specific types of stars, assisting in the determination of the spatial distribution of dark matter in the Milky Way and in the local group of galaxies and using the gravitational microlensing effect to measure the mass of stars. The spacecraft would have used optical interferometry to accomplish these and other scientific goals.
NASA's series of Great Observatories satellites are four large, powerful space-based astronomical telescopes launched between 1990 and 2003. They were built with different technology to examine specific wavelength/energy regions of the electromagnetic spectrum: gamma rays, X-rays, visible and ultraviolet light, and infrared light.
The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is a scientific instrument for infrared astronomy, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), operating from 1997 to 1999, and from 2002 to 2008. Images produced by NICMOS contain data from the near-infrared part of the light spectrum.
The Herschel Space Observatory was a space observatory built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was active from 2009 to 2013, and was the largest infrared telescope ever launched until the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021. Herschel carries a 3.5-metre (11.5 ft) mirror and instruments sensitive to the far infrared and submillimetre wavebands (55–672 μm). Herschel was the fourth and final cornerstone mission in the Horizon 2000 programme, following SOHO/Cluster II, XMM-Newton and Rosetta.
The Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey, or GOODS, is an astronomical survey combining deep observations from three of NASA's Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, along with data from other space-based telescopes, such as XMM Newton, and some of the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (shortened as Roman or the Roman Space Telescope, and formerly the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope or WFIRST) is a NASA infrared space telescope in development and scheduled to launch to a Sun–Earth L2 orbit by May 2027.
An exoplanet is a planet located outside the Solar System. The first evidence of an exoplanet was noted as early as 1917, but was not recognized as such until 2016; no planet discovery has yet come from that evidence. What turned out to be the first detection of an exoplanet was published among a list of possible candidates in 1988, though not confirmed until 2003. The first confirmed detection came in 1992, with the discovery of terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. The first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star was made in 1995, when a giant planet was found in a four-day orbit around the nearby star 51 Pegasi. Some exoplanets have been imaged directly by telescopes, but the vast majority have been detected through indirect methods, such as the transit method and the radial-velocity method. As of 24 July 2024, there are 7,026 confirmed exoplanets in 4,949 planetary systems, with 1007 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey is a review of astronomy and astrophysics literature produced approximately every ten years by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. The report surveys the current state of the field, identifies research priorities, and makes recommendations for the coming decade. The decadal survey represents the recommendations of the research community to governmental agencies on how to prioritize scientific funding within astronomy and astrophysics. The editing committee is informed by topical panels and subcommittees, dedicated conferences, and direct community input in the form of white papers summarizing the state of the art in each subdiscipline. The most recent report, Astro2020, was released in 2021.
Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer (FINESSE) was a NASA mission proposal for a space observatory operating in the Near-infrared spectrum for the Medium-Class Explorers program. The Principal Investigator was Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Enduring Quests and Daring Visions is a vision for astrophysics programs chartered by then-Director of NASA's Astrophysics Division, Paul Hertz, and released in late 2013. It lays out plans over 30 years as long-term goals and missions. Goals include mapping the Cosmic Microwave Background and finding Earth like exoplanets, to go deeper into space-time studying the Large Scale Structure of the Universe, extreme physics, and looking back farther in time. The panel that produced the vision included many notable American astrophysicists, including: Chryssa Kouveliotou, Eric Agol, Natalie Batalha, Misty Bentz, Alan Dressler, Scott Gaudi, Olivier Guyon, Enectali Figueroa-Feliciano, Feryal Ozel, Aki Roberge, Amber Straughn, and Joan Centrella.
The Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor, commonly known as LUVOIR, is a multi-wavelength space telescope concept being developed by NASA under the leadership of a Science and Technology Definition Team. It is one of four large astrophysics space mission concepts studied in preparation for the National Academy of Sciences 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey.
The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is a space telescope concept that would be optimized to search for and image Earth-size habitable exoplanets in the habitable zones of their stars, where liquid water can exist. HabEx would aim to understand how common terrestrial worlds beyond the Solar System may be and determine the range of their characteristics. It would be an optical, UV and infrared telescope that would also use spectrographs to study planetary atmospheres and eclipse starlight with either an internal coronagraph or an external starshade.
Origins Space Telescope (Origins) is a concept study for a far-infrared survey space telescope mission. A preliminary concept in pre-formulation, it was presented to the United States Decadal Survey in 2019 for a possible selection to NASA's large strategic science missions. Origins would provide an array of new tools for studying star formation and the energetics and physical state of the interstellar medium within the Milky Way using infrared radiation and new spectroscopic capabilities.
The Science Programme of the European Space Agency is a long-term programme of space science and space exploration missions. Managed by the agency's Directorate of Science, The programme funds the development, launch, and operation of missions led by European space agencies and institutions through generational campaigns. Horizon 2000, the programme's first campaign, facilitated the development of eight missions between 1985 and 1995 including four "cornerstone missions" – SOHO and Cluster II, XMM-Newton, Rosetta, and Herschel. Horizon 2000 Plus, the programme's second campaign, facilitated the development of Gaia, LISA Pathfinder, and BepiColombo between 1995 and 2005. The programme's current campaign since 2005, Cosmic Vision, has so far funded the development of ten missions including three flagship missions, JUICE, Athena, and LISA. The programme's upcoming fourth campaign, Voyage 2050, is currently being drafted. Collaboration with agencies and institutions outside of Europe occasionally occur in the Science Programme, including a collaboration with NASA on Cassini–Huygens and the CNSA on SMILE.
Cosmic Vision is the third campaign of space science and space exploration missions in the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Formulated in 2005 as Cosmic Vision: Space Science for Europe 2015–2025, the campaign succeeded the Horizon 2000 Plus campaign and envisioned a number of missions in the fields of astronomy and solar system exploration beyond 2015. Ten missions across four funding categories are planned to be launched under Cosmic Vision, with the first being CHEOPS in December 2019. A mission to the Galilean moons (JUICE), the first deep space mission with an opportunistic target, and one of the first gravitational-wave space observatories (LISA), are planned for launch as part of the Cosmic Vision campaign.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a large infrared, optical, and ultraviolet space telescope recommended by the National Academies’ Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020. It will be optimized to search for and image Earth-size habitable exoplanets in the habitable zones of their stars, where liquid water can exist, by using a coronagraph to block out the light of their stars, as well as provide broad astrophysics observations. HWO builds upon studies conducted for two earlier mission concepts called the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR) and Habitable Exoplanets Observatory (HabEx).
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