NASA Seeks 2027 Funding for $1 Billion HOEE Starshade to Image Earth-Like Exoplanets
Updated
Updated · Universe Today · Aug 24
NASA Seeks 2027 Funding for $1 Billion HOEE Starshade to Image Earth-Like Exoplanets
3 articles · Updated · Universe Today · Aug 24
Summary
A NASA-led team has applied for Phase B NIAC funding by 2027 for HOEE, a hybrid observatory designed to directly image rocky, Earth-sized exoplanets around nearby stars.
The concept pairs a starshade about 175,000 km from Earth with ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope, using an artificial eclipse to block starlight from planets up to 1 billion times fainter.
The proposed occulter would carry 48 petals, a 50-meter central disk and microthrusters able to reposition it within 6 meters, while keeping launch mass below 1,500 kg through an inflatable design.
HOEE would target planetary systems within roughly 20 light-years and could detect an exo-Earth within the first minute of observation, then probe optical signatures including red and green auroras tied to oxygen and nitrogen.
NASA researchers estimate the mission at around $1 billion and argue it could open a practical path to identifying chemical signs of life that current instruments such as Webb and Roman cannot directly capture.