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Astronomy and spaceflightTue 27 Oct 2026 · 12 of 13

NASA inspects NEO Surveyor sunshade ahead of launch

Verified · 6/6 supported2 reports merged · 2 cited · 1 min read

nasa.gov reports that NASA’s Near‑Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor includes a large sunshade structure mounted on an assembly ring . nasa.gov reports that the sunshade was inspected in a clean room at BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in July 2026 . nasa.gov reports that the sunshade stands 20 feet (6 meters) tall, is 8 feet (2.4 meters) wide at its base, and consists of two flat panels joined at a 23.5‑degree angle covered with 864 solar cells that can produce up to 2 kilowatts of power . nasa.gov reports that the structure was built by Applied Aerospace in Stockton, California, the solar cells were installed by SolAero Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January, and environmental testing was completed at a commercial thermal‑vacuum facility in El Segundo, California, in March . nasa.gov reports that the sunshade was delivered to BAE Systems ahead of schedule in May and that, when in space, NEO Surveyor will search for hard‑to‑find asteroids and comets, including those near the Sun where ground‑based telescopes have difficulty .

Why it matters. nasa.gov reports that this capability will allow the mission to locate asteroids and comets that are otherwise difficult to detect .

Earlier on Astronomy and spaceflight

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