NASA has determined that the next opportunity to propose for the fifth round of New Frontiers missions will occur no later than the fall of 2024. Missions in NASA’s New Frontiers Program tackle specific solar system exploration goals identified as top priorities by the planetary science community. The strategy is to explore the solar system with medium-class spacecraft missions that conduct high-science-return investigations that add to our understanding of the solar system.
While there had been plans to begin the proposal cycle in 2022, the delays are driven by other missions being in peak development and COVID-related challenges in the broader Planetary Science Division portfolio.
Delaying the New Frontiers opportunity prioritizes missions already in development so that NASA can fully support them, while still allowing the agency to capitalize on innovative new proposals within a few years. Upcoming launches, including Lucy, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), Psyche, and Europa Clipper will also support NASA’s robust planetary science research portfolio offering new, comprehensive data for understanding the formation and processes of our Solar System.
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