NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the agency’s StarBurst mission, a small satellite designed to investigate neutron star mergers and the origins of short gamma-ray bursts.
StarBurst will launch aboard a Bandwagon rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida no earlier than 2028.
The selection is a firm-fixed-price task order under NASA’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract. This indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract allows NASA to acquire launch services during a 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total value of $1 billion across all contracts.
The StarBurst mission is designed to observe the entire portion of the sky not blocked by Earth to search for brief, powerful explosions called gamma-ray bursts. The satellite will focus on detecting the initial high-energy emission from short gamma-ray bursts, which occur when dense stellar remnants called neutron stars merge.
By combining StarBurst’s observations with gravitational-wave measurements and follow-up observations from other telescopes, researchers will study these events through multiple types of signals, an approach known as multimessenger astronomy.
StarBurst is part of NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program, which supports lower-cost investigations using small spacecraft and other platforms.
NASA’s Launch Services Program Office, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contract.
For more information about NASA’s StarBurst, visit:
science.nasa.gov/mission/starburst
-end-
Joshua Finch / Jimi RussellHeadquarters, [email protected] / [email protected]
Leejay LockhartKennedy Space Center, [email protected]
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Last Updated Sep 17, 2026 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA HeadquartersRelated Terms
Launch Services OfficeAstrophysicsAstrophysics PioneersKennedy Space CenterLaunch Services ProgramScience Mission DirectorateStarburstHence then, the article about nasa awards launch services for starburst gamma ray detector was published today ( ) and is available on NASA ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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