NASA and SpaceX plan NEO Surveyor launch in 2027

NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch its NEO Surveyor spacecraft in 2027. The mission, worth $100 million, will use a Falcon 9 rocket to deploy the spacecraft to the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point. The NEO Surveyor aims to identify asteroids and comets that could threaten Earth. It will be positioned 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and will use a 50-centimeter infrared telescope to detect near-Earth objects. This mission builds on previous planetary defense efforts, including NASA's DART mission in 2021, which tested asteroid deflection. The NEO Surveyor seeks to locate two-thirds of undiscovered near-Earth objects larger than 140 meters.