Pioneers Program

Short description: NASA spaceflight program

Not to be confused with Pioneer program.

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The Pioneers or Astrophysics Pioneers Program is a NASA program started in 2020 intended to use low-cost, small-size hardware to carry out sub-orbital and space-based astrophysics investigations. The missions are expected to include SmallSats, balloon payloads, and payloads attached to the ISS, with a $20M cost cap.[1]

Four concepts were chosen in January 2021:[2][3]

* Aspera, a SmallSat to study galaxy evolution
* Pandora, a SmallSat launched on January 11th, 2026, to study at least 20 stars and their respective exoplanets in order to determine their atmospherical composition
* StarBurst, a SmallSat to detect high-energy gamma rays from neutron star mergers, targeted to launch in summer 2027
* PUEO (Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations), a balloon mission successfully launched on December 19, 2025 from the McMurdo Station’s Long Duration Balloon Facility in Antarctica for a 23-day flight in order to detect signals from neutrinos[4][5][6]; future flights are possible[6]

Three additional missions have been selected as of June 2026:[7]

* TIGERISS (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder on the International Space Station), selected in 2022 and anticipated to launch in 2027, a payload attached to the ISS to test models of nucleosynthesis and increase understanding of the production and distribution of elements in the galaxy[8][9][10]
* Landolt space mission, selected in 2024, a SmallSat intended to act as an artificial "star" in the Earth's orbit, enabling the absolute flux calibration of telescopes and thus more accurate measurements of brightness for astronomical objects[11]
* POEMM (Planetary Origins and Evolution Multispectral Monochromator), selected in July 2024 and expected to launch around 2028, a balloon mission with a 1.8 meter telescope and multiple spectrometers that will study planet formation and evolution in the far infrared[12][13]

## References

1. ↑ "Astrophysics Pioneers | Science Mission Directorate". https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/astrophysics-pioneers.
2. ↑ "Potentially mind-blowing secrets of the universe could be exposed with new NASA missions" (in en-US). 2021-01-15. https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/secrets-of-the-universe-new-nasa-missions.
3. ↑ "Astrophysics Pioneers - NASA Science" (in en-US). 2021-01-05. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/astrophysics-pioneers/.
4. ↑ "Antarctic balloon mission chosen for NASA Pioneers program | Penn State University" (in en). https://www.psu.edu/news/academics/story/antarctic-balloon-mission-chosen-nasa-pioneers-program/.
5. ↑ alison (2026-02-13). "PUEO's Antarctic flight advances neutrino research | McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences" (in en). https://mcss.washu.edu/news/pueos-antarctic-flight-advances-neutrino-research.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO)". https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/pueo.html.
7. ↑ "Astrophysics Pioneers - NASA Science" (in en-US). 2021-01-05. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/programs/astrophysics-pioneers/.
8. ↑ "Research | TIGERISS | Washington University in St. Louis". https://sites.wustl.edu/tigeriss/research/.
9. ↑ "TigerISS". https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/heasarc/missions/tigeriss.html.
10. ↑ Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight. "Nicholas Wade Cannady - Sciences and Exploration Directorate" (in en). https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sci/bio/nicholas.w.cannady.
11. ↑ "Landolt Space Mission". https://landolt.gmu.edu/.
12. ↑ "Organisatie" (in en-US). https://terahertz.tudelft.nl/News/indexitem.php?mi=652.
13. ↑ "POEMM - A NASA Pioneers Mission". https://poemm.astro.cornell.edu/.

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