Currently, the instrument enclosure of NEO Surveyor is undergoing environmental testing at the Johnson Space Center before being integrated with other components at the Space Dynamics Lab in Utah.

Operational support for the mission will be provided by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with data processing managed by the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech.

The spacecraft and instrumentation are being developed by multiple aerospace companies, including BAE Systems SMS and Space Dynamics Laboratory.

The primary objective of the NEO Surveyor mission is to detect at least two-thirds of near-Earth objects larger than 140 meters (460 feet) within five years, as these could cause significant regional damage if they were to impact Earth.

NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract valued at approximately $100 million for launch services of the Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission, which aims to enhance planetary defense against potentially hazardous asteroids and comets.

The mission will utilize a 20-inch (50-centimeter) diameter telescope that operates in two infrared wavelengths, allowing it to detect both bright and dark asteroids.

The telescope will enhance NASA's planetary defense initiatives by measuring the sizes, compositions, shapes, rotational states, and orbits of near-Earth objects.

The contract is part of NASA's Launch Services II program, which encompasses the launch service and mission-related expenses.

NASA's Planetary Science Division oversees the NEO Surveyor mission, with support from the Planetary Defense Coordination Office established in 2016.

This announcement follows the spacecraft's successful critical design review on February 6, 2025, which allows it to proceed to the assembly and testing phases.

The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than September 2027 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The urgency of detecting near-Earth objects was highlighted by the recent asteroid 2024 YR4, which was discovered in December 2024 and initially posed a 3.1% impact risk for December 2032, now reduced to 0.36%.