Future Missions

First Light: To be determined

Two 8-meter (26-foot) telescopes on Mount Graham, Arizona will be connected. The ground-based telescope system will identify faint dust clouds around other stars that might hinder planet-finding missions. The mission is managed by the University of Arizona, Tucson in conjunction with multipe international partners.

› Overview
› Planetquest mission description

Mid Infrared instrument on James Webb Space Telescope

Launch: 2013

JPL is managing the development of the Mid Infrared Instrument, one of the three focal plane istruments on the James Webb Space Telescope, a large, infrared-optimized space telescope.

› Overview
› Instrument home page
› James Webb Space Telescope site

Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

Launch: March 14, 2012

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is a pathfinder mission that will study the sky through high energy X-rays.

› Overview

Launch: TBD

The SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory (formerly called the Space Interferometry Mission), currently under development, will determine the positions and distances of stars several hundred times more accurately than any previous program. This accuracy will allow SIM Lite to determine the distances to stars throughout the galaxy and to probe nearby stars for Earth-sized planets.

› Overview
› Mission home page

Soil Moisture Active Passive

Target launch in late 2014.

Soil Moisture Active Passive mission will use a combined radiometer and high-resolution radar to measure surface soil moisture and freeze-thaw state, providing new opportunities for scientific advances and societal benefits.

› Mission home page

Space Technology 7

Launch: Scheduled for 2013

JPL manages a technology to fly on the European Lisa Pathfinder mission.

› Mission home page
› New Millennium Program