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| NASA New Frontiers program | |
|---|---|
| Name | New Frontiers program |
| Established | 2003 |
| Administrator | Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| Country | United States |
| Type | Mission program |
NASA New Frontiers program
The New Frontiers program is a series of medium-class planetary exploration missions managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center and directed by the Science Mission Directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Designed to pursue high-priority objectives from the Decadal Survey process, New Frontiers competitions have produced missions to study targets such as Jupiter’s system, Pluto, Saturn’s moons, and near-Earth objects including Bennu. The program bridges strategic goals recommended by the National Research Council and flight opportunities implemented by centers like Ames Research Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
New Frontiers implements medium-class, principal-investigator-led missions selected through competitive announcements by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Each mission aligns with priorities identified in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey authored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and is constrained by cost caps set by the NASA Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Teams led by institutions such as Southwest Research Institute, Lockheed Martin, JHU Applied Physics Laboratory, and university consortia propose studies focusing on bodies like Mars, Venus, Ceres, and Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. The program complements larger efforts such as the Discovery Program and the flagship Mars Sample Return campaign.
The New Frontiers program emerged after community debates during the early 2000s about balancing flagship missions like Cassini–Huygens and lower-cost missions exemplified by Mars Pathfinder. It was formally established following recommendations in the 2002 Decadal Survey in Planetary Science, and its first competition was announced by the Office of Space Science with oversight from the NASA Headquarters leadership. Early mission concepts drew on expertise from legacy projects including Galileo (spacecraft), Voyager program, and the Stardust (spacecraft) mission. Subsequent rounds were shaped by policy shifts during administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, with technical guidance from laboratories such as the Goddard Space Flight Center and advisory groups like the Planetary Science Advisory Committee.
New Frontiers uses a two-step selection process initiated by a Request for Proposals issued by NASA Headquarters; proposers submit concept studies and full proposals evaluated by panels constituted under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Review criteria include scientific merit relative to the Decadal Survey, technical readiness drawn from Technology Readiness Levels used by NASA Technology Transfer Program, cost realism assessed by the Independent Review Board, and management plans involving prime contractors like Ball Aerospace. Accepted missions progress through formulation phases A through D overseen by Program Executive offices, culminating in launch and operations phases managed by mission operations centers at Malin Space Science Systems or the Deep Space Network operations.
Selected New Frontiers missions include New Horizons, which performed a flyby of Pluto and later of 486958 Arrokoth, and Juno (spacecraft), currently studying Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetosphere, and interior structure. The program also includes OSIRIS-REx, which visited near-Earth asteroid Bennu to collect and return a sample, and Psyche (spacecraft), targeting a metallic asteroid in the main belt. Planned and proposed missions have targeted objectives such as exploring Saturn’s moon Titan and Enceladus, studying the origin of life through sample return from primitive bodies, and characterizing volatile inventories on Mercury and The Moon. Contractors and research teams have included NASA Ames, Ames Research Center, Arizona State University, and international partners like the European Space Agency for instrument contributions.
New Frontiers missions implement specific objectives articulated by the Planetary Science Decadal Survey and mission solicitations, targeting questions about planetary formation, volatile delivery, organic chemistry, and planetary habitability. Investigations have addressed the structure and dynamics of Jupiter’s interior using microwave radiometers, the composition of Pluto’s surface and atmosphere with spectrometers and imagers, and the geochemistry of primitive asteroids through returned samples analyzed by laboratories including Johnson Space Center and university facilities. Science goals often map directly onto recommendations from committees such as the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science and depend on instrument suites like mass spectrometers, cameras from vendors like Malin Space Science Systems, and laser altimeters developed in collaboration with institutions such as University of Colorado Boulder.
Program management is conducted by the Science Mission Directorate with programmatic authority at NASA Headquarters and operational leadership at centers like the Marshall Space Flight Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Budget allocations for New Frontiers are part of NASA’s annual appropriations from the United States Congress and are reviewed in the Presidential budget submissions; cost caps are enforced by policy from the Office of Management and Budget and oversight by the Government Accountability Office. Financial and contractual management involve agreements with prime contractors such as Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and oversight through the NASA Acquisition Review Board.
New Frontiers missions have driven development of instruments and spacecraft technologies including advanced radioisotope power systems like the MMRTG, precision guidance and control from vendors such as Honeywell Aerospace, and high-resolution optical systems derived from heritage programs like Hubble Space Telescope instrumentation. Instrument teams frequently originate from institutions such as Southwest Research Institute, Caltech, MIT, and University of Arizona, and collaborations include international agencies like the Canadian Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency for spectrometers, spectrographs, and radar systems. These technological investments feed forward into future missions and partnerships across the planetary science community.
Category:NASA programs