- NASA selects PRIMA as first probe-class space mission, targeting 2033 launch

- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute to handle key spectrograph calibration, expanding space telescope cooperation

NASA's next-generation space telescope PRIMA. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]
NASA's next-generation space telescope PRIMA. [Korea AeroSpace Administration]

South Korea will join NASA's next-generation far-infrared space telescope project, valued at 1.6 trillion won ($1.18 billion). Following its collaboration on NASA's SPHEREx space telescope, Korea is expanding its role to a next-generation probe-class mission, a move expected to mark a significant leap in the country's space observation capabilities.

The Korea AeroSpace Administration announced Friday that the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute will participate as an international partner in PRIMA — the PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics — after NASA selected it as its next-generation space telescope mission.

PRIMA is the first mission chosen under NASA's newly introduced probe class, a category that sits between large strategic missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope and smaller missions like SPHEREx. The project aims to launch in 2033 with a budget of approximately $1.2 billion and carry out five years of scientific operations.

The telescope will be equipped with a 1.8-meter primary mirror along with high-performance far-infrared spectrographs and imagers, allowing it to peer into cold, dust-obscured regions of the universe that are difficult to observe in visible or near-infrared light.

Through these observations, PRIMA is expected to shed light on the chemical evolution of galaxies, the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes, the formation of stars and planetary systems, and how water formed and migrated across the cosmos. The mission also carries significance as the first major space observatory to conduct full-scale far-infrared observations since the European Space Agency launched the Herschel Space Observatory in 2009.

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute plans to upgrade the cryogenic performance test chamber it used for spectral calibration during SPHEREx development and apply it to calibrating and verifying the performance of PRIMA's far-infrared spectrograph payload. The work involves confirming that the instruments accurately measure brightness and wavelength under cryogenic conditions that simulate the space environment.

Institute researchers will also bring to PRIMA the expertise they accumulated through SPHEREx in cryogenic testing, spectral calibration and data analysis.

The institute particularly plans to pursue multi-wavelength research by combining SPHEREx's all-sky near-infrared spectral data with PRIMA's far-infrared observations. The research scope will expand to cover the physical and chemical properties of star-forming regions and interstellar matter, the formation and evolution of water and dust in protoplanetary disks, and the growth of starburst galaxies and active galactic nuclei.

"Through this participation, we will further advance our research and development capabilities in the space telescope field and build the capacity for South Korea to lead next-generation space telescope missions in the future," said Park Jang-hyeon, director of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.

"Korea's participation in PRIMA is significant in that it extends our space telescope cooperation network with NASA to a world-class far-infrared mission," said Oh Tae-seok, commissioner of KASA. "We will actively support our researchers in producing independent scientific achievements on a global-scale space exploration mission."


nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com