NASA Awards SpaceX Contract for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector Launch
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for its StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts. The StarBurst mission is part of NASA's Astrophysics Pioneers Program, which focuses on lower-cost investigations utilizing small spacecraft and other platforms. The launch is scheduled to occur no earlier than 2028, aboard a Bandwagon rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This selection is a firm-fixed-price task order under NASA’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract. This contract allows NASA to procure launch services over a 10-year period, with a total maximum value of $1 billion across all contracts. The StarBurst satellite will observe the entire sky not obscured by Earth to detect brief, powerful gamma-ray bursts, specifically focusing on the initial high-energy emissions from short gamma-ra...
