Getting the billion-dollar PRIMA space telescope off the ground

October 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In the fall of 2024, NASA gave the green light to a new space telescope called PRIMA, advancing it to the next stage of development. But the moment of celebration came with a strange twist: Dr. Jason Glenn, the scientist who led the concept study for the telescope, found out via an email telling him to join a call with NASA’s director of astrophysics. He learned the good news on that call, but then had to keep it secret all day until the agency’s press release went out. “You have to tight lip all day long,” he recalls. That quiet, tense wait is just one small window into the decade-long, high-stakes process of getting a billion-dollar space observatory off the ground.

What PRIMA will actually do

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What you'll learn

1 (01:30) **PRIMA Gets the Green Light (Phase B)** - NASA announces the PRIMA telescope advances to Phase B of development. Host Flora introduces the episode’s core question: how does a billion-dollar space project get conceived, designed, approved, and built?
2 (04:54) **The Competition and Selection Process** - Glenn details the highly competitive process that led to PRIMA’s selection.
3 (07:54) **From Phase A to Cutting Metal** - The phases of a NASA mission are explained, from concept study to detailed design to construction.
4 (09:00) **The Scientist as Project Manager** - Glenn discusses the massive project-management challenge beyond pure science.
5 (10:20) **The Emotional Journey and Responsibility** - The intense emotional toll and sense of responsibility in leading a decade-long mission.
6 (12:01) **Tumultuous Years and Leadership** - How recent disruptions—federal workforce shakeups, furloughs, JPL closures—have tested the project.
7 (13:24) **The Real Challenges Ahead** - Glenn warns that the hardest part is just beginning, with a long timeline to launch.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

In late September 2026, NASA announced that a new telescope called PRIMA was getting a green light and advancing to something called Phase B of the development process. But what does that mean exactly? How does a billion-dollar space project get thought up, designed, approved, and constructed?

Flora talks with Jason Glenn, an astronomer who led the initial concept study for PRIMA, about the challenges ahead and the process of getting a massive space project off the ground.

Guest:

Dr. Jason Glenn led the concept study for the PRIMA space telescope, and is now a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia.

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