NASA Awards SpaceX $100 Million Contract To Launch Asteroid Hunting Telescope

Remember just last week when we were all excitedly reading about the record one in 32 chance that a giant asteroid was on a collision course with Earth? Well, it isn't anymore but that doesn't mean there aren't more massive space rocks up there that could smash into the planet without much notice. To prepare for this, NASA awarded SpaceX a $100 million contract to launch a new satellite that could monitor extraterrestrial threats to the Earth.

NASA began developing a special telescope that can scan the night sky for asteroids almost five years ago. The craft, called the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, comprises an infrared telescope that will search space for potentially threatening asteroids, reports Space.com.

Production of the specially-designed satellite kicked off in January 2023 and NASA is now preparing to set out a plan to launch the Surveyor into space to start work protecting the planet. The task of transporting the craft into orbit will now fall on Elon Musk-backed SpaceX, as Space.com reports:

The agency announced on Friday (Feb. 21) that it has selected Elon Musk's company to launch its NEO Surveyor spacecraft, which will hunt for asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to Earth.

NEO Surveyor will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast no earlier than September 2027. The total value of the newly announced firm, fixed-price contract is about $100 million, which covers the launch and related services, NASA officials said.

SpaceX will transport the Surveyor to a point about 930,000 miles away from Earth. From there, it will scan space using telescopes that can pick up two infrared wavelengths to spot threatening asteroids.

NASA awarded the $100 million contract to SpaceX to cover the launch of the craft, but not its construction or operation. The costs of designing, developing and assembling the probe fall on NASA, which is already knee-deep in the production of the new telescope.

SpaceX will just be tasked with getting the probe to its destination onboard one of the company's Falcon 9 rockets. The rocket will launch "no earlier" than September 2027, reports NASA and there isn't yet a timeline on how long it will take for the probe to begin scanning for threats once it's in space.

Musk's private space company regularly works with NASA, providing rockets to launch all kinds of tech into orbit when the American space agency requires. NASA previously called on SpaceX to run supply missions to the International Space Station and the company could even be tasked with transporting a new lunar rover to the surface of the moon one day.

Once deployed to a site that scientists call the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1, NEO Surveyor will form part of our planetary defense system to scan for asteroids that are at least 460 feet across, Space.com explains. The program launched in 2021, but its importance was highlighted over the past few weeks when the world watched to see if a city-killing asteroid would hit Earth.

The new probe aims to give advanced warnings of similarly enormous space rocks, and will also help scientists map the paths of such asteroids to see if they could hit our home. The program remains an important one, despite it emerging that the near-Earth object, designated 2024 YR4, probably won't hit Earth in 2032 after all, reports Ars Technica.

To hunt out future risks to our planet, the NEO Surveyor will work alongside probes like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will also launch in 2027, and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which is currently under construction in Chile.

Now, NASA will just have to hope that the team responsible for delivering the NEO Surveyor isn't gutted as part of Musk's never-ending cuts to the U.S. Government. At least the fact that SpaceX will make $100 million off the back of the project should mean that it's safe for now.