Towards the Habitable Worlds Observatory: Visionary Science and Transformational Technology
We are pleased to announce the inaugural open community conference for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, to be held at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC, from July 28‐31, 2025.
This milestone event will bring together scientists, engineers, industry and community stakeholders to propel the development of HWO, a mission expected to usher in a new era of astrophysics discovery and address one of humanity’s oldest questions “Are we alone?”
The Habitable Worlds Observatory is NASA Astrophysics’ next flagship mission, and builds on the heritage of the Hubble, Webb, and Roman Space Telescopes. It will deploy advanced ultraviolet, optical, and infrared technologies to identify potentially habitable worlds and analyze their atmospheres for signs of life.
This same technology will empower astronomers to address fundamental, persistent questions in cosmology, galaxy evolution, the origins of elements, and our Solar System’s place in the universe.
HWO has made significant progress in the past year, with NASA establishing a dedicated Technology Maturation Project Office at Goddard Space Flight Center, working in close collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ames Research Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center.
This initiative advances critical technologies and science cases, and fosters collaboration across government, academia, and industry. Results of HWO working groups will be showcased together with contributions from the global astronomy and engineering communities.
Astrobiology
