NASA's Pandora telescope will study stars to clarify exoplanet atmospheres.

Launched Jan. 11, 2026, NASA's Pandora telescope will monitor host stars' brightness and color changes to reduce stellar contamination in exoplanet transit measurements.

Pandora launched into orbit on Jan. 11, 2026, and is now circling Earth roughly every 90 minutes. The mission was built to address how active regions on stars can alter measurements of exoplanet atmospheres. Pandora is smaller than larger observatories but is designed to monitor stars more patiently and repeatedly to isolate stellar signals. Key facts: - Pandora was carried to orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 and is undergoing on-orbit testing by its builder, Blue Canyon Technologies. - The telescope will measure subtle changes in stellar brightness and color with visible and infrared cameras by staring at stars for 24 hours and revisiting targets 10 times over a year, totaling over 200 hours per star. - The mission aims to address the "transit light source effect," a phenomenon identified in prior studies where starspots and active regions can mimic or contaminate planetary atmospheric signals, including features like water vapor. - Pandora is intended to complement observations from larger telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, by providing continuous monitoring of host stars while transit observations are made. - About a week after launch, control of the spacecraft will move to the University of Arizona's Multi-Mission Operation Center in Tucson, at which point the science teams will begin coordinated observations. Summary: Pandora's focused, repeated observations are intended to disentangle stellar variability from the light that filters through exoplanet atmospheres so teams can better interpret transit spectra. On-orbit testing is underway and control will transfer to the University of Arizona in about a week, after which coordinated science observations with other telescopes will begin.