SpaceX Will Launch Pandora, NASA Satellite To Find Alien Life On Exoplanet

Illustration of Pandora satellite in space (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA On Monday, February 10, 2025, NASA selected SpaceX as a launch service provider for the Pandora mission. It is not yet known what rocket SpaceX will use to deliver Pandora's small satellite.

The choice of SpaceX as the launch service provider for the Pandora mission is part of NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract. This contract is worth around US$300 million (Rp4.9 trillion) with a five-year ordering period.

Pandora is a small satellite launched to observe exoplanets or planets outside the solar system ten times within 24 hours. This satellite will capture important data on its planet and parent star using a 45cm telescope.

Like other life-signing search satellites from NASA, Pandora will determine the atmospheric composition of dozens of exoplanets to be observed, such as fog, clouds and water. These various data will be used to search for foreign life in outer space.

"This data will be a solid basis for interpreting measurements by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and upcoming missions that will search for a habitable world," NASA said in its official broadcast.

Pandora will use aluminum telescopes to measure the brightness of the parent star simultaneously, both clearly visible and visible through the infrared. After that, Pandora will get an infrared spectrum of the planet passing.

"This will allow scientists to clearly separate stellar and planetary signals," NASA said. In addition, data obtained by Pandora will be used to determine the surface properties of the stars and planets around them.