The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a proposed next generation

space telescope A space telescope (also known as space observatory) is a telescope in outer space used to observe astronomical objects. Suggested by Lyman Spitzer in 1946, the first operational telescopes were the American Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, OAO ...

, a successor of the flagship Hubble,

Webb Webb may refer to: Places Antarctica *Webb Glacier (South Georgia) *Webb Glacier (Victoria Land) * Webb Névé, Victoria Land, the névé at the head of Seafarer Glacier * Webb Nunataks, a group of nunataks in the Neptune Range * Webb Peak (disa ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

projects. It would have a large 6–8 meter mirror and be able to detect

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

, and

ultraviolet Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of ...

wavelengths. Its primary mission would be to search for and image Earth-size habitable exoplanets in the habitable zones of their stars, where

liquid water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ( ...

can exist, by using a

coronagraph A coronagraph is a telescopic attachment designed to block out the direct light from a star or other bright object so that nearby objects – which otherwise would be hidden in the object's bright glare – can be resolved. Most coronagr ...

or a starshade to block out the light of their stars. Beyond planets, it will also observe galaxies. The proposed launch date is 2041, a tentative date because U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

has promised to defund and dismantle the Roman telescope only a year away from launch.

Mission goals

HWO’s main objective would be to identify and directly image at least 25 potentially habitable worlds. It would then use

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

to search for chemical

biosignature A biosignature (sometimes called chemical fossil or molecular fossil) is any substance – such as an element, isotope, molecule, or phenomenon – that provides scientific evidence of past or present life on a planet. Measurable ...

s in these planets’ atmospheres, including gases such as oxygen and methane, which could serve as critical evidence for life. HWO would also use its high sensitivity and resolution capabilities to trace the evolution of galaxies and other cosmic structures. The main science themes for HWO are: * Living worlds - search for life * Drivers of galaxy growth - show how galaxies change over the lifetime of the universe * Evolution of elements over cosmic time - study how elements arise in stars and are redistributed * Solar System in its galactic context - study objects in the Solar System

Development

The concept for HWO came out of two earlier ideas called the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor and

Habitable Exoplanets Observatory The Habitable Exoplanet Observatory (HabEx) is a space telescope concept that would be optimized to search for and image Earth-size Planetary habitability, habitable exoplanets in the Circumstellar habitable zone, habitable zones of their stars, ...

. HWO was officially recommended in 2020 by the

National Academies A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ins ...

’ Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics. In 2023, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established a Great Observatory Maturation Program (GOMAP) to unite government, industry, and academia to develop the technologies needed for HWO. GOMAP aims to draw on lessons from previous NASA missions to streamline development of the HWO concept and decrease budget and schedule risks for the future mission. The HWO is designed to be launched on a

super heavy-lift launch vehicle A super heavy-lift launch vehicle is a rocket that can lift to low Earth orbit a "super heavy payload", which is defined as more than by the United States and as more than by Russia. It is the most capable launch vehicle classification by mass ...

such as

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 1 ...

Blue Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own ...

New Glenn New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed and operated by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket is designed to have a Reusable launch vehicle, partially reusable, two-stage design with a diameter of . The first stage is powered ...

or the

SLS SLS may refer to the Space Launch System, a launch vehicle developed by NASA. It may also refer to: Education * Stanford Law School, California, U.S. * Sydney Law School, Australia * Symbiosis Law School, India * Same language subtitling, of ...

. The design for the HWO includes a 6–8 meter mirror, however it would allow for a larger mirror if launch vehicle technology allows by the time of its launch in the 2040s.

References

{{Space observatories Space telescopes Exoplanet search projects Proposed astrobiology space missions Proposed NASA space probes