NASA has approved the NEO (Near-Earth Object) Surveyor space telescope to search for near-Earth objects. The so-called key decision point has been passed, now it’s time to move on to the next phase of the work on the assignment and explain the cost and planned timelines. According to NASA estimates, the creation of the NEO Surveyor will cost $ 1.2 billion, and it will be possible to launch this spacecraft in June 2028 at the earliest. Previously, there was talk of a launch in 2026, but later the mission was postponed in favor of higher priority missions: the study of Jupiter’s moon Europa (Europa Clipper) and an expedition to Mars to collect soil samples.

The NEO Surveyor spacecraft will be equipped with a half-metre-diameter telescope with an infrared camera. It will be located at the L-1 Lagrangian point of the Earth-Sun system, 1.5 million kilometers from Earth in the direction of the Sun. At this point, the low-mass object in the Earth-Sun system is in equilibrium, making it a suitable place to perform some missions. In the case of the NEO Surveyor, this location would allow it to scan large areas of land for potentially threatening objects that could pass very close to Earth.

It is worth noting that some congressmen did not agree with the delay of the launch of the device to 2028. They sent a letter to NASA asking them to let them know how much money they needed to send the NEO Surveyor into space in 2026, as originally planned. Source