05 Aug 2025
Breann Sitarski of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center updates conference on progress of telescope design.
By Matthew Peach in San Diego
NASA is further prioritizing its long-running search for life in the universe and laying the groundwork for its next flagship astrophysics mission after the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – scheduled to launch by May, 2027.
Currently known as the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), the planned development will build upon studies conducted for two earlier mission concepts – the Large Ultraviolet Optical Infrared Surveyor (LUVOIR), and the Habitable Exoplanets Observatory.
The HWO is planned to be a large ultraviolet, optical, infrared space telescope. It will be the first such specifically engineered to identify habitable, Earth-like planets next to relatively bright stars like our Sun with a coronagraph, and to examine them for evidence of life.
During the UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts XII conference, on Sunday, at SPIE Optics & Photonics 2025, Breann Sitarski presented an update on the HWO architecture and technology plan. Sitarski is Deputy Principal Architect, GSFC Testbed Lead at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
“The HWO will revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos. Several technologies need to be advanced in the next decade to ensure performance requirements will be met,” she said. “Specifically, ultra-stable optical systems, highly sensitive ultraviolet instrument components, and starlight suppression technologies must be advanced, and facilities must be prepared for compliance tests.”
NASA’s GSFC is leading several testbed facilities that are open to academia and industry to validate their test articles against requirements. The ultra-stable structures laboratory and Mini-MUST will enable TRL 5 (Technology Readiness Level) stability testing for ~1-m class diameter optics and optical systems at the picometer level. In NASA’s interpretation, TRL 5 means the component and/or breadboard is validated for the relevant environment.
Objectives and progress
Sitarski then described the progress and latest status of the the architecture and technology plan. “One of the things that we needed to develop for HWO is a robust strategically-executed technology plan that demonstrates technical feasibility, reduces overall programmatic risk, and enables transformative scientific discovery. We have done that. We have defined a robust strategic technology plan that is consistent with the science,” she said.
“The technology needs to be informed by the science and the architecture We have two really strong science cases for HWO. First is the search for life. In order to search for life – that’s Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars – we need a high-contrast coronagraph system to find exoplanets, but we also need a large ultra-stable telescope.
“Luckily, that large ultra-stable telescope is also really useful for transformative astrophysics and it really enables transformative astrophysics. And stability, in particular, adds a really interesting aspect, when you think about what we can achieve. Having the large ultra-stable telescope that also enables the search for life, will enable that level of astronomy, as well. We also want and need high-sensitivity UV and visible instrumentation,” she said.
In summary, there are three technology tracks aligned to the HWO’s system architecture: the coronagraph system technologies; the large ultrastable telescope technologies; and the high-sensitivity UV-VIS instrumentation technologies. “We have made progress that has advanced the state-of-the-art across all of these tracks,” she said.
Sitarski concluded her presentation saying, “Our technology plan is now in place. We have a risk-based process to evolve that plan in response to challenges and our critical technologies continue to advance and enable the Habitable Worlds Observatory’s transformative science.”