BAE Systems will supply the spacecraft bus for NASA’s PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), a planned observatory with a $1.2 billion project cap if NASA confirms the mission.
BAE said Nov. 13 it will use its Evolve+ spacecraft bus and take the operations and ground lead role for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages the mission. The company will lead the observatory’s assembly, integration and testing. BAE’s announcement did not state a contract value; NASA’s $1.2 billion ceiling is for project costs if the mission is confirmed.
NASA selected PRIMA for Phase B on Sept. 23, 2026. NASA described the phase as a period for advancing the mission’s preliminary design and technologies. Before PRIMA can enter Phase C implementation, a confirmation review will assess its technical, programmatic and cost performance.
NASA’s current schedule places the launch in 2033 and plans five years of operations. The cost ceiling excludes launch and other expenses outside the project. A confirmation review stands between Phase B design work and Phase C implementation.
PRIMA’s 1.8-meter telescope will collect far-infrared observations. NASA says the observations are intended to bridge a gap between existing infrared observatories such as the James Webb Space Telescope and radio telescopes. The mission aims to help researchers trace how planets beyond our solar system form, follow changes in galaxies and their black holes, and study the accumulation of cosmic dust and heavier elements.
NASA placed PRIMA in the inaugural Probe Explorers mission class within its Explorers Program. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine called for establishing the class in its 2020 Decadal Survey, NASA said. The agency also evaluated candidate concepts for scientific merit, cost and schedule feasibility, and technologies that could support future large missions. NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Nicky Fox called PRIMA “humanity’s next window into the deep universe.”
