NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts.
StarBurst will launch aboard a Bandwagon rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida no earlier than 2028.
The selection is a firm-fixed-price task order under NASA’sVADR launch services contract.
This indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract allows NASA to acquire launch services during a 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total value of $1 billion across all contracts.
TheStarBurstmission is designed to observe the entire portion of the sky not blocked by Earth to search for brief, powerful explosions called gamma-ray bursts.
The satellite will focus on detecting the initial high-energy emission from short gamma-ray bursts, which occur when dense stellar remnants called neutron stars merge.
By combining StarBurst’s observations with gravitational-wave measurements and follow-up observations from other telescopes, researchers will study these events through multiple types of signals, an approach known asmultimessenger astronomy.
StarBurst is part of NASA’sAstrophysics Pioneers Program, which supports lower-cost investigations using small spacecraft and other platforms.
NASA’s Launch Services Program Office, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contract.
https:science.nasa.gov/mission/starburst
Joshua Finch / Jimi RussellHeadquarters, Washington202-358-1100joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov/james.j.russell@nasa.gov
Leejay LockhartKennedy Space Center, Fla.321-747-8310leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
Launch Services Office
Astrophysics
Astrophysics Pioneers
Kennedy Space Center
Launch Services Program
Science Mission Directorate
Starburst