NASA Selects SpaceX to Launch COSI Space Telescope Mission

NASA has awarded SpaceX a $69 million, firm-fixed-price contract to launch the Compton Spectrometer and Imager space telescope mission.

The contract encompasses launch services and mission-related expenses, NASA said.

Scientists will use COSI,  a wide-field gamma-ray telescope, to investigate the formation and destruction of matter and antimatter, the final stages of stellar evolution and other energetic phenomena within and beyond the Milky Way galaxy.

According to NASA, the compact telescope will enhance sensitivity, spectral resolution, angular resolution and sky coverage essential for unlocking scientific discoveries.

The COSI mission is a collaborative effort led by the University of California Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. NASA’s Astrophysics Explorers Program at the Goddard Space Flight Center will support the project development, while NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center will manage the launch services.

The University of California San Diego, the Naval Research Laboratory and Northrop Grumman will also participate in the mission.