Solar System Strategic Exploration Plans

The missions listed below are in the proposal stages, or they are in development or have launched (as indicated by an asterisk *). The missions followed by two asterisks (**) indicate that the missions will be competed and only one will be chosen from the New Frontiers Class of missions. Missions designated with three asterisks (***) will be directed Flagship Class missions by NASA and not competed. These missions are still in the concept phase. They are predefined and are currently undergoing extensive studies that will determine feasibility, configuration, and potential science investigations. Further, many of these missions would have possible collaboration with international partners such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and others. The missions reflect input from the scientific community and address the strategic plans for Solar System exploration in the coming decades. The dates listed are tentative or they are the "earliest possible" for launch.

* MISSIONS IN DEVELOPMENT OR LAUNCHED

** COMPETED MISSIONS: ONLY ONE WILL BE CHOSEN IN NEW FRONTIERS CLASS

*** DIRECTED MISSIONS: ONLY ONE WILL BE CHOSEN IN FLAGSHIP CLASS

In the rather lengthy tale of cosmic creation, one of the most interesting chapters is the formation and nature of our Solar System - humankind's celestial backyard. A vast region made up of the Sun, planets, moons and small debris, our Solar System has always inspired a sense of wonder and raises many fundamental questions: Are we alone in a cold, impersonal cosmos? Do there exist habitable worlds other than our own? How did Earth and its complex oasis of life come to be?

Through NASA, the United States has committed itself to the continued exploration of the Solar System under the direction of the President's "Moon, Mars and Beyond" initiative. As a result of this initiative, one of NASA's primary goals is to "design sets of future missions that will conduct robotic exploration across the solar system for scientific purposes and to support human exploration. In particular, explore the moons of Jupiter, asteroids, and other bodies to search for evidence of life, to understand the history of the Solar System, and to search for potential resources."

NASA's Solar System Exploration Roadmap is the subset of a larger collection of potential missions, known as the Design Reference Mission Set (DRM).

But how do we construct an economically rational and technologically achievable ordering of planetary targets and exploration? The approach suggested in the "roadmap" for the future addresses five "scientific objectives":

1. Learn how the sun's family of planets and minor bodies originated
2. Determine how the Solar System evolved to its current diverse state including the origin and evolution of the Earth's biosphere
3. Explore the space environment to discover potential hazards and search for resources that would enable permanent human presence
4. Understand the processes that determine the fate of the Solar System and life within it
5. Determine if there is or ever has been life elsewhere in the Solar System

NASA's Design Reference Mission (DRM) set reflects input from the scientific community, and is used to assist in strategic road mapping for Solar System Exploration through the next decade and beyond. While not all the missions will be selected for scoping, the chart above includes some of the selected missions that reflect the priorities that were considered by the National Research Council (NRC) in the Decadal Survey.