NASA has selected the PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, known as PRIMA, to advance into Phase B development. The space telescope will become the inaugural mission in a new NASA class called Probe Explorers, targeting a 2033 launch for a planned five-year mission.
The agency announced that PRIMA is advancing to the next phase of development following a detailed evaluation of concept studies. Selected for its scientific merit, alignment with community recommendations, and development feasibility, the observatory is designed to explore the history and evolution of the universe by surveying the cosmos in far-infrared wavelengths.
Telescope Bridges Observational Gap in Far-Infrared Astronomy
Operating as a middle-tier mission class, Probe Explorers fill a structural cost gap between smaller Explorer-class satellites and multi-billion-dollar flagship observatories like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Designed with a 5.9-foot telescope, PRIMA will be optimized to capture wavelengths that remain largely unobserved from the ground.
By spanning the 24-to-235 micron spectral range, PRIMA is able to cut through thick interstellar dust lanes that otherwise block ultraviolet and visible light.
The retirement of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory left a void that this capability now addresses.
Mission Targets Objectives Across Cosmic History
The mission will focus on several key areas of astrophysics, ranging from planetary systems to the growth of supermassive black holes. Researchers plan to use the observatory to study the origins of planets outside our solar system and investigate how water and heavy elements accumulated over time.
PRIMA will also examine an era when the universe was between 5 and 10 billion years old, known as the intermediate universe and recognized as the golden age of star formation.
The spacecraft payload includes two primary scientific instruments.
“The PRIMA mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe.”
Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
The Probe Explorers class itself stems from a recommendation put forward in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2020 Decadal Survey, titled Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s. This ten-year strategic blueprint outlines high-priority scientific targets for the astronomical community. Within NASA’s institutional framework, the Explorers Program is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, reporting directly to the Science Mission Directorate. Since the historic launch of Explorer 1 in 1958—which famously detected Earth’s surrounding radiation belts—the program has successfully launched more than 100 distinct scientific missions. Notable predecessors in this long-running initiative include the Uhuru satellite and the Cosmic Background Explorer, both of which generated foundational scientific datasets that ultimately led to Nobel Prize-winning research.
NASA and International Agencies Manage PRIMA Mission
Oversight of the PRIMA mission will be handled by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, with additional contributions provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The project also incorporates contributions from international space organizations.
- France’s CNES, contributing through institutes like LAM and CEA alongside the Dutch space agency SRON and Cardiff University
- Italy’s ASI
- Germany’s DLR
- The Canadian Space Agency
- South Korea’s KASI and the Korea AeroSpace Administration
- Japan’s JAXA
- The UK Space Agency
Entering Phase B allows the project team to mature cryogenic cooler subsystems and finalize engineering trade studies. If the mission clears its subsequent confirmation review for Phase C implementation, NASA would cap its project cost at $1.2 billion, excluding launch expenses and other non-project costs.