NASA is building a successor to the Hubble and Webb space telescopes—a giant observatory called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)—and UK scientists are organising a consortium to design and build a major instrument for it. The mission’s central goal is to answer one of the most fundamental questions in science: are we alone? HWO will directly photograph Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars and analyse their atmospheres for chemical signatures of life. If no such signs are found across a large enough sample, the results will still place meaningful constraints on how common life might be in the Galaxy. This is primarily curiosity-driven fundamental science. Like Hubble and Webb before it, HWO will also serve as a general-purpose observatory, capable of revolutionary advances across astrophysics and planetary science. Past missions of this scale have led to unexpected breakthroughs—from measuring the universe’s expansion rate to discovering exoplanet atmospheres. The UK consortium aims to secure a role in building a 6–8-metre UVOIR telescope, with launch expected in the early 2040s. The work now is to build the academic and industrial collaborations needed to make a UK instrument contribution a reality.
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The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) has been selected by NASA as its next flagship space astronomy mission, following on from Hubble, Webb and Rubin telescopes. A principal scientific goal of HWO is to search for Earth-like planets in our interstellar neighbourhood and characterise their surfaces and/or atmospheres through direct spectroscopic observations in the search for evidence of life processes. This programme will answer the question “Are We Alone?”, one of the most exciting and fundamental in modern science. If no direct evidence for life is found, by surveying a sufficiently large population of objects, it will be possible to provide important and interesting constraints on the presence of life in the Galaxy. Like Hubble and Webb, HWO will also be a general-purpose observatory able to provide revolutionary capability in many areas of astrophysics and planetary science. As with Hubble and Webb before, the timescale for the development, build and launch of HWO is measured in decades, with an expected launch in the early 2040s (although it is hoped to accelerate work to bring this forward). HWO is currently planned to be a 6-8-m aperture UVOIR telescope. Mission development is now underway, led by NASA, with international participation. The UK Space Agency has had a series of active engagements with the US and other potential partners with a view to making a UK-led instrument contribution. Two meetings, supported by STFC, have been held, to engage with the UK community and develop the academic and industry collaborations required to support the UK component. The purpose of this proposal is to obtain support for the development of the UK HWO consortium develop a UK contribution to the mission
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