Artist's Rendering of James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope launched in December 2021. By the time it launched, JWST cost about US$10 billion.

NASA's large strategic science missions or large strategic missions, formerly known as Flagship missions or Flagship-class missions,[1][2] are the costliest and most capable NASA science spacecraft. Flagship missions exist within all four divisions of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD): the astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics and planetary science divisions.

"Large" refers to the budget of each mission, typically the most expensive mission in the scientific discipline. Within the Astrophysics Division and the Planetary Science Division, the large strategic missions are usually in excess of US$1 billion. Within Earth Science Division and Heliophysics Division, the large strategic missions are usually in excess of US$500 million.[3][2] "Strategic" refers to their role advancing multiple strategic priorities set forth in plans such as the Decadal Surveys.[2] "Science" marks these missions as primarily scientific in nature, under the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), as opposed to, e.g., human exploration missions under the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). The lines can be blurred, as when the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter began as a directed mission from the HEOMD, and was later transferred to the SMD.

Flagship missions are not under the purview of any larger "Flagship Program", unlike, e.g., Discovery-class missions that are under the purview of the Discovery Program. Unlike these competed classes that tender proposals through a competitive selection process, the development of Flagship missions is directed to a specific institution — usually a NASA center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory — by the Science Mission Directorate.[2][1] Flagship missions are developed ad-hoc, with no predetermined launch cadence or uniform budget size. Flagship missions are always Class A missions:[4] high priority, very low risk.[2]

Missions

NASA Large Strategic Science Missions[2]
Mission name Mission start Mission end
Planetary Science Division
Viking 1, 2[5] 1975 1982
Voyager 1, 2[5] 1977 Operational
Galileo[5] 1989 2003
Cassini[5] 1997 2017
Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover[6] 2011 Operational
Mars 2020/Perseverance + Ingenuity helicopter[6] 2020 Operational
Europa Clipper[6] 2024 In development
NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Mission[7] 2028-30 Proposed
Uranus Orbiter and Probe 2032 Proposed
Enceladus Orbilander 2038 Proposed
Astrophysics Division
Hubble Space Telescope[8] 1990 Operational
Compton Gamma Ray Observatory[8] 1991 2000
Chandra X-ray Observatory[8][9] 1999 Operational
James Webb Space Telescope[10][11] 2021 Operational
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope[12][13] 2027 In development
Heliophysics Division
Solar Dynamics Observatory[14] 2010 Operational
Van Allen Probes[14] 2012 2019
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS)[15] 2015 Operational
Parker Solar Probe[16] 2018 Operational
Earth Science Division
Terra[17][18] 1999 Operational
Aqua[17][18] 2002 Operational
ICESat[19] 2003 2010
Aura[18] 2004 Operational
Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) ─ a constellation[19] 2011 Operational
Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE)[20] 2024 Operational

Of the four Great Observatories, only the Spitzer Space Telescope is not a Flagship mission. Despite an initial budget of US$2 billion, Spitzer was downscoped to a medium-size US$720 million mission.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "NASA's 'Large Strategic' Science Missions Under the Microscope". www.aip.org. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (24 August 2017). Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions. The National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/24857. ISBN 9780309463836.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 10
  4. ^ "NASA Procedural Requirements: Risk Classification for NASA Payloads: Appendix B - Classification Considerations for NASA Class A-D Payloads". Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ a b c d Solar System Programs: Outer Planets Flagship. NASA Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ a b c Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 37
  7. ^ Berger, Eric (21 September 2023). "Independent reviewers find NASA Mars Sample Return plans are seriously flawed". Ars Technica. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 25
  9. ^ Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 1
  10. ^ Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 27
  11. ^ Clery, Daniel (1 March 2018). "Flagship U.S. space telescope facing further delays". Science Magazine.
  12. ^ Foust, Jeff (30 September 2021). "Pandemic causes delay and cost increase for NASA's Roman Space Telescope". SpaceNews. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  13. ^ Balzer, Ashley (9 November 2021). "NASA's Roman Mission Will Help Empower a New Era of Cosmological Discovery". NASA. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  14. ^ a b Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. Page 17.
  15. ^ Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. Page 2.
  16. ^ Powering Science: NASA's Large Strategic Science Missions (2017). The National Academies Press. page 16
  17. ^ a b Terra: Earth Observing System Flagship. Space Today
  18. ^ a b c Earth Science: NASA's Mission to Our Home Planet. Edward S. Goldstein and Tabatha Thompson, NASA Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  19. ^ a b NASA Missions: From Concept to Launch (PDF) Michael Amato, NASA March 2013
  20. ^ "Timeline". NASA. May 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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