Towards the Observatory of Habitable Worlds – STSCI
We are pleased to announce the inaugural NASA Observatory for Habitable Worlds Open Community Conference, which will be held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC, July 28-31, 2025.
This landmark event will bring together scientists, engineers, industry and community stakeholders to propel the development of HWO, a mission expected to usher in a new era of discovery in astrophysics and address one of the most ancient questions of humanity: “Are we alone?
The Habitable Worlds Observatory is NASA Astrophysics’ next flagship mission and builds on the legacy of the Hubble, Webb and Roman space telescopes. It will deploy advanced ultraviolet, optical and infrared technologies to identify potentially habitable worlds and analyze their atmospheres for signs of life.
This same technology will allow astronomers to address fundamental and enduring questions regarding cosmology, the evolution of galaxies, the origin of elements and the place of our solar system in the universe.
HWO has made significant progress over the past year, with NASA establishing a dedicated Technology Maturation Project Office at the Goddard Space Flight Center, working closely with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center and the Marshall Space Flight Center.
This initiative advances critical technologies and scientific cases, and fosters collaboration between government, academia and industry. Results from the HWO working groups will be presented with contributions from the global astronomy and engineering communities.
Astrobiology