NASA Awards L3Harris Contract for Search-for-Life Mission
L3Harris Technologies Inc. has been awarded a contract by NASA for the development of essential technology for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), a premier deep space telescope aimed at uncovering signs of life on distant exoplanets.
As part of this ambitious mission, L3Harris is one of seven companies selected to receive three-year, fixed-price contracts focused on advancing the necessary technologies. The work will be conducted in Rochester, NY, where L3Harris will emphasize the demonstration of thermal and optical stability technologies, which are vital for achieving the picometer-level stability that the HWO demands.
Leveraging its proven thermal control systems used in the Optical Telescope Assembly for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, L3Harris aims to further develop advanced technologies that will enable a telescope capable of maintaining picometer-level thermal stability. A picometer is an incredibly small unit of measurement, smaller than an atom, and ensuring stability at this scale is crucial to prevent even the slightest temperature-induced shifts. The HWO must remain exceptionally steady to detect faint light from distant cosmic objects and to identify chemical signs indicative of potential habitability, such as water vapor, molecular oxygen, ozone, and methane.
Charles Clarkson, Vice President and General Manager of Space Superiority & Imaging at L3Harris, stated, “Achieving unprecedented stability in space represents one of the most demanding engineering challenges ever attempted. Drawing on our legacy of contributions to groundbreaking deep space missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Roman Space Telescope, L3Harris possesses the proven capabilities in advanced optics and space systems to assist NASA in pushing these boundaries and delivering transformative science.”
The HWO is specifically designed to search for extrasolar planets with the potential to support life, necessitating exceptionally precise spectral measurements over vast distances.
This contract not only signifies L3Harris’s involvement in one of humanity’s most ambitious endeavors, but it also presents a unique opportunity to craft a telescope with unprecedented accuracy to search for life beyond our solar system.
Source: L3Harris (2026-06-29)
