UK Secures £3 Million to Lead Core Instrument for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory

The UK Space Agency has awarded £3 million to British astronomers to develop the High Resolution Imager (HRI) and Multi‑Object Spectrograph (MOS) for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, a flagship space telescope planned for launch in the 2040s. The observatory will directly image Earth‑like exoplanets within roughly 30 light‑years and analyse their atmospheres for possible biosignatures. Professor Martin Barstow of the University of Leicester, who is leading the UK effort, said the mission will address the fundamental question of whether we are alone in the universe. The funding builds on the UK’s historic contributions to NASA missions such as Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, positioning Britain to play a leading role in the new mission. Experts caution that proposed budget cuts to research institutes could threaten the expertise needed to deliver and fully exploit the instruments when the observatory becomes operational.