 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Some of the projects have received approval status and others have been conjured since the last update to this article.(July 2025) |
The Pioneers or Astrophysics Pioneers Program is a NASA program started in 2020 intended to use small-size hardware. The missions are expected to include SmallSats, Balloon payloads, and payloads attached to the ISS, with a $20M cost cap. [1]
Four were the concepts chosen to study in January 2021, which will undergo a review before approval for flight: [2]
- Aspera, a SmallSat to study galaxy evolution
- Pandora, a SmallSat to study at least 20 stars and their respective exoplanets in order to determine their atmospherical composition
- StarBurst, a SmallSat to detect high-energy gamma rays from the merger of neutron stars
- PUEO, a balloon mission intended to be launched from Antarctica in order to detect signals from neutrinos [3]
George Mason University is currently collaborating with NASA for the Landolt space mission, which intends to put an artificial "star" in the Earth's orbit. [4]
