Overview
Building on the success of NASA’s NEOWISE space telescope, the agency’s NEO Surveyor will be the first spacecraft built specifically to find large numbers of asteroids and comets that are potentially hazardous to Earth.
As it scans the solar system, NEO Surveyor’s sensitive infrared detectors will track the most elusive near-Earth objects. Dark asteroids and comets don’t reflect much visible light, for example, but they will glow in the infrared spectrum as they’re heated by sunlight.
In addition, NEO Surveyor will be able to find asteroids that approach Earth from the direction of the Sun, as well as ones both leading and trailing our planet’s orbit, where they are typically obscured by the glare of sunlight. All of these are threats that larger ground-based observatories could miss.
NEO Surveyor Mission Identifier
The official NEO Surveyor mission identifier incorporates several symbolic design references:
COMET: The white object at the center represents the small solar system bodies the mission will detect to better understand and predict potential space hazards.
TRACKLET: The small red dots represent the infrared signature of an object detected by the mission. When combined, these dots form a “tracklet” that can be used to plot a near-Earth object’s motion through space.
EARTH-MOON SYSTEM: The solid blue and white circles anchor the mission to its primary goal. These celestial bodies represent the home world NEO Surveyor is built to defend.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NEO Surveyor Mission Identifier
Visualize NEO Surveyor after its planned launch in late 2027, when it begins to stand watch for near-Earth asteroids (NEOs), using NASA’s ‘Eyes on the Solar System’ 3D Visualization tool
Featured Video
Planetary Defenders
How would humanity respond if we discovered an asteroid headed for Earth? NASA’s “Planetary Defenders” is a gripping documentary that delves into the high-stakes world of asteroid detection and planetary defense.
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Why We’re Launching NEO Surveyor
Finding near-Earth objects is required by law.
We can only do something about hazardous near-Earth objects if we can find them first.
NEO Surveyor will find asteroids and comets that other space missions cannot, filling a critical gap in humanity’s ability to detect potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.
In addition to planetary defense, scientists will use data from NEO Surveyor for studies of near-Earth objects to learn more about the evolution of the solar system.
Learn More About Asteroids and Comets
Next Five Asteroid Approaches
The Asteroid Watch dashboard tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth.
Asteroid Watch
The Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) tracks the orbits of all known near-Earth objects, and predicts their close approaches with Earth.
Asteroid & Comet Resources
A curated collection of resources, including activities that can be done at home, as well as videos and animations, images, handouts, and online interactives.
Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program
The program is a key element of NASA’s Planetary Defense Program, funding efforts to search for undiscovered NEOs using observatories around the world.
Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble contributes regularly to our understanding of asteroids.
In 2016, NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) to manage the agency’s ongoing mission of finding, tracking, and better understanding asteroids and comets that could pose an impact hazard to Earth.
Learn More about Planetary Defense at NASA
Eyes on Asteroids
Use NASA’s Eyes on Asteroids interactive for a real-time visualization of every known asteroid or comet classified as a Near-Earth Object, or NEO.
Interstellar Comet 3I / ATLAS
Only the third interstellar object ever recorded to enter our solar system, comet 3I/Atlas was no threat to Earth, passing no closer than about 170 million miles (270 million kilometers). But it fascinated scientists and the public alike as it traversed the solar system in 2025.
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