NASA Greenlights a $1.2B Infrared Eye on the Cold Universe

The PRIMA telescope will scan wavelengths no NASA observatory has reached before — and may house the coldest optics ever sent to space.

By The space-quantum Desk

NASA has approved development of PRIMA, the Probe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, setting a 2033 launch target and a cost cap of $1.2 billion excluding launch costs. [1]

PRIMA is the first of a new tier NASA calls Probe Explorers — positioned between the few-hundred-million-dollar Explorer class and multibillion-dollar flagships like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which carried a $4.3 billion price tag. [1]

The 1.8-meter primary mirror will operate at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, scanning far-infrared wavelengths between 24 and 235 micrometers. Its primary optics must be cooled to 4.5 Kelvin; the focal planes of its kinetic inductance detectors will be chilled even lower to 100 milliKelvin — putting the mission's optics in contention for the coldest ever sent into space. [1]

Rather than building a new cryocooler from scratch, PRIMA will repurpose a spare left over from the James Webb Space Telescope, modified to use helium-3 instead of helium-4 as the cooling fluid. [1,2]

Between a science budget under strain and an institutional crisis at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, PRIMA arrives as proof that ambition and constraint can occupy the same blueprint.

PRIMA has entered Phase B development and will undergo a preliminary design review before a confirmation review at NASA Headquarters that will mark final approval to proceed into integration of flight hardware. The complete observatory is expected to weigh less than 3.4 metric tons at launch. [1]