HWO is a large infrared/optical/ultraviolet space telescope recommended by the National Academies’ Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s. HWO will be the first telescope designed specifically to search for signs of life on planets orbiting other stars.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will be a large ultraviolet, optical, infrared space telescope. It will be the first specifically engineered to identify habitable, Earth-like planets next to relatively bright stars like our Sun with a coronagraph, and examine them for evidence of life.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a future flagship space telescope for NASA Astrophysics that will build on the achievements of the Hubble, Webb, and Roman Space Observatories.
By exploring the birth, life, and death of stars, HWO follows the evolution of the elements over cosmic time. HWO will examine the conditions under which stars form, and the processes that drive, regulate, and extinguish star formation in the Milky Way and other galaxies.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) represents a significant step in the field of astronomy and astrobiology. It is a proposed space telescope, designed with the primary goal of detecting and studying exoplanets, specifically those that may harbor conditions suitable for life.
Investing now — in both technology and workforce development — will position HWO for scientific, technical and programmatic success, and sustain U.S. global leadership at the frontier of space science and exploration in the decades to come.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is a mission to launch a large space telescope with the main purpose of directly imaging Earth-like planets around stars like our Sun.
The HWO won’t be NASA’s next flagship space telescope after JWST. The agency plans in 2027 to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Observatory, a 2.4-meter survey telescope that will hunt for dark energy and exoplanets.
HWO is a concept for a NASA flagship mission, as recommended by the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey, that would pursue a breadth of astrophysics goals, including searching for and characterizing potentially habitable planets beyond our solar system.
