Exoplanet Exploration Program
NASA's search for habitable planets and life beyond our solar system
Overview
The Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) is responsible for implementing NASA’s plans for the discovery and understanding of planetary systems around nearby stars. ExEP serves the science community and NASA by acting as a focal point for exoplanet science and technology, and by the integration of cohesive strategies for future discoveries. The Program In Depth explains the motivations and activities of the Program in more detail. Two of the key guiding documents are:
- Astrophysics Implementation Plan captures NASA’s short to medium-term objectives for the Program. (The Plan covers all of astrophysics, not just exoplanets). Below are links to the elements of the Program currently in operation (like Kepler), in operation (LBTI), or under study (WFIRST and the Probe-scale concepts).
- Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey conducted by the National Research Council (NRC). The most recent Report, New Worlds, New Horizons, along with detailed Panel Reports, was issued in 2010, and a mid-decadal review was published in 2016. This is major activity by the NRC, undertaken approximately every 10 years, to engage the broad astronomy community to produce a new Report.
The Organizational Chart shows the Exoplanet Exploration Program's current structure. A similar chart is available for the NASA Astrophysics Division.
Upcoming Events
- May 5, 2025: Planets on the Edge UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
- May 26, 2025: 5th Advanced School on Exoplanetary Science "Physical and Dynamical Processes of Exoplanetary Systems" Vietri sul Mare (Salerno), Italy
- June 3, 2025: ExoPAG 32 - Virtual Meeting
Managed by the Exoplanet Exploration Program and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA’s Astrophysics Division
Exoplanet Types
So far scientists have categorized exoplanets into the following types: Gas giant, Neptunian, super-Earth, and terrestrial, with subcategories — such as mini-Neptunes — within those groups. How are they alike or different? What makes them special?
Learn More about Exoplanet Types
Exoplanet Catalog
Learn more about every confirmed exoplanet — 5,800+ and counting — in this continuously updated resource. View interactive 3D models, read descriptions and vital statistics, and filter by exoplanet type, or by the method used to discover it, or by the spacecraft, observatory, or other facility that found it.
Browse the Exoplanet Catalog
Other Stars, Other Habitable Worlds?
The Target Star Catalog is a guide to intriguing nearby stars that astronomers want to study with future missions, such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will be built specifically to find and observe Earth-like exoplanets, to search for signs of life.
Browse the Target Star Catalog
Managed by the Exoplanet Exploration Program and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA’s Astrophysics Division
