NASA targets early-2030s launch for first Probe Explorer, PRIMA
The mission would offer a lower-cost alternative to flagship observatories while aiming to deliver more science than smaller Explorer projects.
NASA plans to send PRIMA, the inaugural Probe Explorer, toward launch in the early 2030s, making it the first mission in a new observatory program. The program aims to produce more science for less money, occupying a middle ground between smaller Explorer projects and NASA’s multibillion-dollar flagships. Explorer missions have caps of a few hundred million dollars, while the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope cost $4.3 billion. Pressure on NASA’s science budget had recently left it unclear whether development of a Probe Explorer could begin.
Why it matters
PRIMA would broaden the range of mission types NASA can pursue, adding an option between smaller projects and flagship observatories. But the plan follows a period when budget pressure had left it unclear whether development could begin.
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