Important Announcement
Jan-12-2026: Pandora has been launched and deployed successfully!!! 🚀🚀🚀 🎉🎉🎉.
NASA launch date briefings: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/smallsatellites/2026/01/11/welcome-to-launch-day-for-nasas-pandora-mission-cubesats/
UA article on Pandora: https://astro.arizona.edu/news/conversation-nasas-pandora-telescope-will-study-stars-detail-learn-about-exoplanets-orbiting
Pandora
The Pandora SmallSat was selected in 2021 as an inaugural mission in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. It includes a 0.45-meter telescope, visible-light photometry, and near-infrared spectroscopy. Pandora will launch in 2025.
Exoplanets
Pandora will improve our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by disentangling exoplanet signals from their host stars. It will study host star variability with long-duration observations of 20 unique planets.
Supporting JWST
Visible wavelength observations are critical for quantifying stellar contamination in exoplanet observations. Pandora’s long-baseline observations in simultaneous visible and near-infrared wavelengths complement shorter-duration infrared observations with JWST.
Data For Everyone
A core philosophy of the Pandora team is to ensure that the data collected and tools developed for Pandora can be valuable to the broader science community. We will make data and tools publicly available.
Contact our team
Elisa Quintana (PI): elisa.quintana@nasa.gov
Knicole Colón (Project Scientist): knicole.colon@nasa.gov