---
title: "NASA Unveils Plan for Giant Telescope to Spot Life on Alien Planets"
description: "NASA has announced details about the multi-billion successor to its groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory."
date: "2023-01-11"
modified: "2023-01-11"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-unveils-plan-giant-telescope-life-alien-planets"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "james webb space telescope"
  - "NASA"
  - "SETI"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Unveils Plan for Giant Telescope to Spot Life on Alien Planets

![NASA has announced details about the multi-billion successor to its groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/nasa-unveils-plan-giant-telescope-life-alien-planetsnasa-unveils-plan-giant-telescope-life-alien-planets.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## World Observatory

NASA has revealed details about the multi-billion successor to its groundbreaking James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) — a project tasked with searching for life on Earth-like planets as soon as the early 2040s.

During this week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society, [*Science* reports](<https://www.science.org/content/article/nasa-unveils-initial-plan-multibillion-dollar-telescope-find-life-alien-worlds>), NASA’s astrophysics division director Mark Clampin revealed that outside of a working name — the spacecraft will be called the Habitable World Observatory (HWO) — most of the details still have to be ironed out.

But it's a momentous occasion nonetheless, revealing a tantalizing vision for the ongoing search for extraterrestrial life.

## Alien Hunter

The observatory will be designed from the ground up to be upgradeable by robots, meaning future spacecraft could visit it to upgrade or repair its key components.

If they do, though, it'll be a long tripl. Like the agency's JWST, the HWO will be orbit in a [Lagrange Point around the Sun](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-space-telescope-orbit>) that keeps it near the Earth, roughly a million miles away.

The observatory won't be the next multi-billion dollar telescope NASA launches in the upcoming years. The agency will be launching its dark energy and exoplanet-hunting [Nancy Grace Roman Observatory](<https://futurism.com/nasa-spacecraft-dark-matter>) around 2027, if everything goes according to plan.

## Mirror, Mirror

There have been several proposals for NASA's HWO so far, including a single segment, 4-meter mirror observatory called [HabEx](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/habex/>), and a multisegmented, 15-meter observatory dubbed [LUVOIR](<https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/luvoir/>).

The HWO will likely fall something in between those proposals, according to the report, and will feature a mix of technologies inspired by both.

Fortunately, making it serviceable and upgradeable like NASA's Hubble Space Telescope could allow scientists some breathing room and flexibility in its development.

That could also make it more palatable to Congress — which is crucial, given NASA's budget constraints and difficulties in securing funding for its JWST.

**READ MORE:** [NASA unveils initial plan for multibillion-dollar telescope to find life on alien worlds](<https://www.science.org/content/article/nasa-unveils-initial-plan-multibillion-dollar-telescope-find-life-alien-worlds>) \[*Science*\]

**More on JSWT:** *[James Webb Captures Its First Look At Saturn's Most Mysterious Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/james-webb-captures-saturns-mysterious-moon>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)