New Frontiers program

The New Frontiers program is a series of space missions led by NASA. Its goal is to learn more about our Solar System through exciting discoveries. The program picks medium-sized missions that can do important research but are bigger than smaller missions.

NASA invites scientists from around the world to suggest ideas for these missions. The New Frontiers program builds on earlier programs like the Discovery and Explorer Programs. These missions are bigger than Discovery missions but smaller than very large science missions called Large Strategic Science Missions.

Right now, there are three New Frontiers missions exploring space and one being developed. New Horizons flew by Pluto in 2015, Juno studies Jupiter, and OSIRIS-REx collected samples from the asteroid Bennu. In 2019, Dragonfly was chosen to become the next mission.

History

The New Frontiers program was started by NASA and approved by Congress in 2002 and 2003. Two important NASA leaders helped create this program. Before the program began, a mission to Pluto had already been chosen. This mission, called New Horizons, was included in the New Frontiers program.

The idea for the program came from a report in 2003. The program’s name remembers President John F. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” speech from 1960. He talked about exploring new places and ideas. President Kennedy also supported NASA a lot.

Scientists suggested many ideas for missions under this program, including exploring places like Pluto, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and comets.

Missions in progress

Mission timelines

New Horizons (New Frontiers 1)

Main article: New Horizons

New Horizons is a mission to Pluto. It launched on January 19, 2006. It used Jupiter for a gravity assist in February 2007. Then it flew by Pluto on July 14, 2015. After that, it flew by another object in the Kuiper Belt called 486958 Arrokoth on January 1, 2019.

Juno (New Frontiers 2)

Main article: Juno (spacecraft)

Juno is a mission to explore Jupiter. It launched on August 5, 2011, and arrived in July 2016. It is the first spacecraft to use solar power to explore an outer planet. Juno orbits Jupiter to study the planet's magnetic field and inside structure.

OSIRIS-REx (New Frontiers 3)

Main article: OSIRIS-REx

OSIRIS-REx launched on September 8, 2016. Its goal was to orbit an asteroid named 101955 Bennu by 2020. The spacecraft studied the asteroid and collected a sample. It brought the sample back to Earth in 2023. This sample will help scientists learn more about the Solar System and how life might have started.

Planned missions

Dragonfly (New Frontiers 4)

Main article: Dragonfly (Titan space probe)

Dragonfly will send a robotic rotorcraft to Saturn's moon Titan. It will fly through Titan's atmosphere using special power. The mission will cost about $1 billion. As of June 2024, Dragonfly is set to launch in July 2028.

The contest to pick this mission started in January 2017. NASA asked scientists for ideas. In December 2017, NASA chose two ideas to study more, including Dragonfly. In June 2019, NASA picked Dragonfly as the New Frontiers 4 mission. It was first planned to launch in 2026 but was moved to July 2028.

New Frontiers 5

In 2011, experts suggested NASA pick two New Frontiers missions every ten years. By 2023, NASA needed to plan for New Frontiers 5 but had to wait because of money problems. In February 2025, a report gave new ideas for New Frontiers 5, such as:

• Centaur Orbiter and Lander
• Ceres Sample Return
• Comet Surface Sample Return
• Enceladus Multiple Flyby
• Io Observer
• Lunar Geophysical Network; and
• Saturn Probe

New Frontiers 6 and 7

New Frontiers 6 will probably use ideas from a 2022 report. This could include trips to Titan or Venus. New Frontiers 7 might use any leftover ideas from New Frontiers 6, plus a possible trip to study Triton, a moon of Neptune. Because of timing, a new report might be ready when NASA starts choosing New Frontiers 7.