by BAE Systems has announced the successful completion of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission, which officially ended on August 8, 2024, after more than 14 years in orbit, according to a press release.
The spacecraft, which was decommissioned on the orders of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is now scheduled to gradually descend to Earth, where it will safely burn up in the atmosphere later this year.
The NEOWISE spacecraft, originally launched in 2009 as part of NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, played a pretty big role in mapping the sky with its infrared imaging.
After completing its first survey in 2011, the satellite was put into hibernation before being reactivated for the NEOWISE mission in 2013. Over the years, NEOWISE has provided important data to the scientific community and helped track and study near-Earth objects (NEOs).
The mission has accomplished several key goals, including two full-sky surveys and covering the sky over 23 times. NEOWISE has identified tens of millions of supermassive black holes, catalogued thousands of near-Earth asteroids and comets, and improved planetary defense capabilities.
The spacecraft, built by BAE Systems and operated by NASA’s JPL, used an advanced imager developed by the Space Dynamics Laboratory.
Commenting on the mission’s success, Dr. Alberto Conti, Vice President and General Manager of Civil Space at BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems, said: “The WISE and NEOWISE missions have exceeded all expectations and provided invaluable insights into our solar system. The success of NEOWISE was also critical to the development of NASA’s NEO Surveyor telescope, which will fulfill the important mission of protecting our planet from dangerous objects in our solar system. Our team is excited to once again play a key role in the upcoming mission.”
With the completion of the NEOWISE mission, the focus now turns to NASA’s upcoming Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, scheduled for launch in fall 2027. NEO Surveyor will be the first planetary defense satellite specifically designed to detect and characterize asteroids and comets larger than 460 feet (140 meters) that could pose a threat to Earth.
BAE Systems will continue its commitment in this next phase, supplying the spacecraft for the NEO Surveyor mission, together with the solar protection system, deployable aperture cover and various cryogenic thermo-mechanical components.
In addition, BAE Systems will lead the assembly, integration and testing of the observatory and provide support for launch integration.
