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Astrophysics Strategic Technology & Research Accelerator (ASTRA) Initiative

To maintain US leadership, NASA's Astrophysics Division (APD) is launching the Astrophysics Strategic Technology and Research Accelerator (ASTRA) Initiative.

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About ASTRA Initiative

How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone?

At every stage, NASA will collaborate with industry, academia, and international partners to advance necessary technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and reduce costs.

ASTRA aims to reduce the total cost, time-to-science, and schedule risk of future strategic missions, aligning with the guidance from Astro2020, LSSM, and AMP.

This artist's impression of how the very early Universe might have looked shows colliding protogalaxies less than 1 billion years after the big bang.
Artist’s conception of early star formation: The first stars are thought to have formed as early as 100 million years after the big bang, when dense regions of hydrogen and helium collapsed under their own gravitational pull. Once the pressure and temperature in the center of the cloud was high enough, hydrogen atoms began to fuse together, releasing energy in the form of light.
Credit: NASA, STScI A. Schaller

NASA’s greatest telescopes continue to expand our frontiers in both literal and metaphorical ways. They advance the limits of humanity’s views of the cosmos while they address profound questions: How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are we alone? They also advance the frontiers of our technologies and capabilities by making the previously impossible routine, and in the process advancing US strategic interests consistent with the President’s national space policy. NASA’s Astrophysics Division (APD) pursues implementation plans for these frontier-expanding missions with guidance from: decadal surveys by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine including “Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics for the 2020s” (Astro2020); internal NASA reports, including the Large Strategic Science Missions (LSSM) Report; and independent assessments including the Government Accountability Office’s Assessment of Major Projects (AMP).

To maintain US leadership, APD is launching the Astrophysics Strategic Technology & Research Accelerator (ASTRA) Initiative. ASTRA will: 

  1. identify strategic (flagship/probe) mission concepts that expand our frontier to dramatically advance astrophysics; 
  2. study those concepts at a low fidelity level to inform strategic decisions; and 
  3. advance the concepts ahead of formal pre-Phase A activities for potential projects. 

At every stage, NASA will collaborate with industry, academia, and international partners to advance necessary technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and reduce costs. ASTRA aims to reduce the total cost, time-to-science, and schedule risk of future strategic missions, aligning with the guidance from Astro2020, LSSM, and AMP.

Further details, including a timeline, are available in the announcement document [PDF].

Questions regarding this initiative should be submitted to this link:

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Interacting Galaxies Group Arp 194
Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

News & Events

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from ASTRA Initiative as we explore the universe.
ASTRA Initiative
2 min read

NASA’s greatest telescopes continue to expand our frontiers in both literal and metaphorical ways. They advance the limits of humanity’s views of the cosmos while they address profound questions: How does the universe work? How did we get here? Are…

Apr 10, 2026
Innovation Workshop, May 2026
2 min read

Registration is now open for NASA’s Innovation for Astrophysics Missions Workshop! The registration site will close on 15 April 2026.

Apr 10, 2026

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This cropped horizontal image has layers of semi-opaque rusty red colored gas and dust that starts at the bottom right and goes toward the top left. There are three prominent pillars rising toward the top left. The left pillar is the largest and widest. The peaks of the second and third pillars are set off in darker shades of brown and have red outlines.