NASA has selected two Colorado companies to help develop a future NASA space telescope that will look for signs of life on other planets.

The flagship project, called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, will be the first space telescope purpose built to observe planets orbiting distant stars.

It will seek to answer one of humanities ongoing questions: Are we alone?

The telescope is still a concept; it is expected to be developed fully sometime after the Nancy Grace Roman telescope is launched next year.

The $105 million set aside for the study will be spread among seven total companies including Denver-based Astroscale U.S. and Westminster-based BAE Systems Space and Missions Systems, formerly Ball Aerospace.  Other companies, like Lockheed Martin and Northop Grumman, have a significant presence in Colorado.

The companies have been directed to research new technologies for a future NASA flagship program. Astroscale U.S. is focusing on how to make the new space telescope repairable while orbiting the Earth.

It is well suited to the task and aware of the significant challenges associated with the observatory, said to Tayler Overschmidt, a spokesperson with the company.

“We will be studying the exciting technology innovations that allow highly autonomous and precise robotic on-orbit servicing, and the interfaces and technology needed to empower it,” said Overschmidt.

The Hubble Space Telescope orbits at about 310 miles above Earth, close enough for astronauts to visit and repair it. The Habitable Worlds Observatory will be stationed about 900,000 miles above the Earth, beyond the orbit of the moon.

The distance will also create a 5-second, one-way communications delay, meaning robots tasked with making repairs can’t be controlled in real time like a drone, added Overschmidt.  

Another major engineering hurdle is the need for a super stable and precise optical system. While it is collecting data, the satellite must not move “more than the width of an atom,” according to NASA.

Companies like BAE Systems and Space Mission Systems, which acquired Ball Aerospace in 2024, is well versed in this level of precision. It designed and built the mirrors used on the James Webb Space Telescope as well as the actuators that adjusted them.

“Aligning the primary mirror segments as though they are a single large mirror means each mirror is aligned to 1/10,000th the thickness of a human hair,” said Lee Feinberg, Webb Optical Telescope Element Manager at NASA Goddard.

The proof of Ball’s precision was evident in the images beamed back to Earth in 2022. Erin Wolf was the program manager of Webb in 2022, and said she was surprised how awe inspiring the images were.

“In that room there was a lot of us that have spent decades on this program, and there was an audible gasp when the images came up,” she told the Gazette in 2022.

For NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, that is exactly the kind of work he wants to see continued at NASA. At an agency-wide townhall, hosted shortly after he was confirmed by the Senate, Isaacman said America will lead in the peaceful exploration of space.

“The Habitable Worlds Observatory is exactly the kind of bold, forward-leaning science that only NASA can undertake,” said Isaacman in a Monday news release. “Humanity is waiting for the breakthroughs this mission is capable of achieving and the questions it could help us answer about life in the universe.”

Other companies tapped to develop parts of the Habitable Worlds Observatory include Northrop Grumman, L3Harris Technologies and Lockheed Martin, which combined employ over 15,000 people in Colorado.

Statewide, the space industry employs 55,000 people directly, according to the University of Colorado Boulder. The 2,000 companies calling the state home also indirectly support 184,000. Contracts from NASA generated $5 billion in economic activity, supported more than 21,000 jobs and contributed over $190 million in state tax revenue, according to the university.