Astrophysics Observatories
The great observatories of the coming decades — surveying dark energy, imaging habitable worlds, and opening the low-frequency gravitational-wave and X-ray skies.
In brief
The next generation of space observatories.
Missions in this theme
- AthenaMission conceptUnder study · In reformulation; launch envisaged in the late 2030s
ESA's next great X-ray observatory — designed to study the hot, energetic universe, from the gas that binds galaxy clusters to the black holes that shaped galaxies, at far higher sensitivity than today's X-ray telescopes.
- Habitable Worlds ObservatoryMission conceptUnder study · In early design; launch envisaged in the 2040s
NASA's next flagship space telescope, recommended by the astronomy decadal survey — designed to directly image potentially habitable planets around other stars and search their atmospheres for signs of life.
- LISAMission conceptIn development · Launch planned in the mid-2030s
A space-based gravitational-wave observatory — three spacecraft forming a giant laser interferometer to hear the low-frequency ripples in spacetime that ground detectors cannot, from the mergers of the largest black holes.
Already in development or en route:
Knowledge connections
- Group includesHabitable Worlds Observatory
- Group includesAthena
- Group includesLISA
- Group includesNancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.