# NEO Surveyor

**Type:** Space telescope mission  
**Domain:** Planetary defense  
**Status:** Development (launch NET September 2027)  
**Operator:** NASA JPL  
**Launch Vehicle:** SpaceX Falcon 9  
**Destination:** Sun-Earth L1 point (~930,000 miles from Earth)  
**Mission Duration:** 5-year baseline survey  

## Overview

NEO Surveyor is NASA's dedicated space telescope for detecting near-Earth objects (NEOs) that pose potential impact threats to Earth. The mission addresses a 20-year failure to meet Congressional detection mandates.

## Mission Objectives

- Find at least two-thirds of NEOs larger than 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter within 5 years of launch
- Complete catalog coverage by ~2032
- Address the "city-killer" asteroid detection gap (140m-1km range)

## Technical Specifications

- **Instrument:** 50cm infrared telescope
- **Bands:** Two heat-sensing infrared bands
- **Capability:** Detects both bright and dark asteroids
- **Location:** Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point for optimal viewing geometry

## Context

**Congressional Mandate:** In 2005, Congress mandated NASA to identify 90% of NEOs over 140 meters within 15 years (by 2020). As of April 2025, only 44% have been catalogued — a dramatic failure of the mandate nearly 20 years later.

**Detection Gap:** For extinction-level objects (>1km), ~95% are already tracked with none posing near-term threats. The critical gap is in the 140m-1km "city-killer" range where NEO Surveyor will operate.

**Catalog Progress:** Total NEOs identified from September 2014 to April 2025: 26,000+ out of 38,000+ total known.

## Planetary Defense Pipeline

NEO Surveyor provides the detection prerequisite for the complete planetary defense response pipeline. Combined with DART's validated deflection capability (β=3.61), the system will have:
1. High catalog coverage of 140m+ threats by ~2032 (detection)
2. Proven deflection technique for detected rubble-pile asteroids (response)

## Limitations

NEO Surveyor does not address long-period comets (LPCs) arriving from the outer solar system with only weeks to months of warning — far too short for kinetic deflection. LPCs remain an unaddressed category of planetary impact threat.

## Timeline

- **2005** — Congressional mandate to identify 90% of NEOs >140m by 2020
- **2020** — Mandate deadline missed; only ~44% catalogued
- **September 2027** — Planned launch (NET)
- **~2032** — Expected completion of 2/3 detection goal

## Related Missions

- **DART:** Validated kinetic impactor deflection technique
- **China kinetic impactor test:** 2026 launch target for hybrid deflection/observation test

## Funding Context

NASA's planetary defense budget grew from ~$4M/year in early 2000s to ~$200M/year currently, split between:
- Ground-based observations: ~$40M/year
- Flight missions: remainder

Despite budget growth, the 20-year detection gap reveals a governance failure where mandate and funding were misaligned.