Nasa announces $1.2 billion Prima Telescope to study how planets, galaxies form

Nasa has moved the Prima far-infrared telescope into preliminary design and technology development. The mission is intended to fill a key observational gap as scientists study how planets, galaxies and cosmic ingredients formed.

In Short

• Prima has entered Phase B, beginning preliminary design and technology development
• The mission will observe far-infrared radiation invisible to optical telescopes
• Scientists will track cold dust and gas in planet-forming environments

Weeks after launching the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Nasa has announced the next major observatory in its astrophysics pipeline, a new far-infrared telescope designed to investigate how planets, stars and galaxies form and evolve.

Nasa said Wednesday that Prima (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics) has advanced to Phase B, moving the mission into preliminary design and technology development.

The mission is the first member of a new class of Nasa astrophysics missions called Probe Explorers, created under the agency’s long-running Explorers Program.

Prima is designed to explore the universe in far-infrared wavelengths, allowing astronomers to study radiation that cannot be seen by optical telescopes and that occupies a gap between existing infrared observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope and radio telescopes.

“The Prima mission is humanity’s next window into the deep universe,” Nicky Fox, associate administrator of Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

One of its key goals will be to understand how planets form outside our solar system. The telescope will study the cold dust and gas associated with planet-forming environments, helping scientists trace the material from which planets emerge.

Prima will also investigate how galaxies and their central black holes have grown over cosmic time, as well as how dust and heavy elements accumulated throughout the universe.

The observatory will carry a 5.9-foot (1.8-metre) telescope and is targeted for launch in 2033, with a planned five-year mission. If Nasa confirms the mission following a review of its technical, programme and cost performance, the project cost will be capped at $1.2 billion, excluding launch and other non-project expenses.

Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California will manage the mission, with contributions from Goddard Space Flight Center and Marshall Space Flight Center. International partners include space agencies and institutions from France, Italy, Germany, Canada, South Korea, Japan and the UK.

Prima was selected following recommendations from the US National Academies’ 2020 Decadal Survey, which called for a new class of Probe Explorer missions capable of addressing major astrophysical questions at a lower cost than Nasa’s flagship observatories.

The announcement comes as Nasa builds a pipeline of major space telescopes. Webb, launched in 2021, transformed infrared astronomy, while the Roman Space Telescope is designed for wide-field surveys of the universe.

Nasa said Prima would add another capability by observing the far-infrared universe, potentially providing a missing piece in understanding the cosmic processes that ultimately produced stars, planets and the ingredients needed for worlds like Earth.

- Ends