NASA Awards Launch Services for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector - NASA

2 min read NASA Awards Launch Services for StarBurst Gamma-Ray Detector Jessica Taveau Sep 17, 2026 CONTRACT RELEASE C26-012 NASA Headquarters Credit: NASA 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: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/starburst -end- Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell Headquarters, Washington joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov Leejay Lockhart Kennedy Space Center, Fla. leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov Details Last Updated Sep 17, 2026 Editor Jessica Taveau Location NASA Headquarters Related Terms Launch Services Office Astrophysics Astrophysics Pioneers Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program Science Mission Directorate Starburst — Company newsroom — sourced from NASA. Matter furnished by the company. Not a Notice Nearby paid placement. This page reprints matter furnished by the company from its official newsroom. Notice Nearby did not write this release. Read the original: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-for-starburst-gamma-ray-detector