Pandora (spacecraft)
NASA small satellite space telescope
Pandora is a NASA small satellite space telescope designed to study the atmospheres of transiting exoplanets (exoplanets that pass in front of their host stars). Pandora will also help identify exoplanet targets worthy of more in-depth atmospheric studies by JWST and future space telescopes designed to search for signs of life. The spacecraft launched on January 11, 2026 aboard a SpaceX rideshare mission "Twilight" into a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit to carry out about one year of science operations.
Science objectives
During a planetary transit, a small fraction of starlight passes through the planet's atmosphere before reaching a telescope. Measuring how the light from the star changes during such a transit can provide insights into the planet's atmosphere. However, starspots and other features on the star can also affect the measured spectrum and mimic or hide atmospheric features.
Pandora's primary objective is to measure and correct for this "stellar contamination" by combining long-term visible-light monitoring of each host star with simultaneous near-infrared spectroscopy taken during transits. After accounting for the host star's variability, the mission aims to identify planets with hydrogen- or water-dominated atmospheres and to determine which planets are likely covered by clouds or hazes.
Spacecraft
Observatory and instruments
Pandora's payload is built around an all-aluminum Cassegrain telescope with a 45 cm (18 in) aperture and a baffle to reduce stray light. A beam-splitting mirror sends visible light to a photometer while directing near-infrared light to a spectrograph, allowing both measurements to be taken at the same time.
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