NASA Reaffirms Support for LISA Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Mission

“I think we’re in a very good position going forward,” Thorpe said.

NASA funding keeps LISA on track

The NASA official who oversees all of the agency’s astrophysics missions is Sean Domagal-Goldman. Despite the White House’s efforts to end NASA funding for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, the 2026 budget passed by Congress and subsequently signed by President Trump should signal to the European Space Agency (ESA) that Washington supports the project.

“This complex issue is always challenging, which is why it is important to reaffirm our commitment to the funding included in the FY 2026 appropriations bill,” Domagal-Goldman said. “As long as there is a continuing resolution or something with the current funding levels, we will remain committed to LISA’s mission.”

“I’m really excited about that, because once LISA is launched, it will answer some of the other big questions that can only be asked with space-based gravitational-wave observatories,” he said.

What LISA could reveal about the universe

LISA’s scientific goals include investigating the origins of black holes and the formation of galaxies. NASA says the observatory could be sensitive enough to detect gravitational waves produced shortly after the Big Bang, allowing scientists to test theories about the birth of the universe.

“These are disturbances that propagate through space and time,” Thorpe said of gravitational waves. “They can carry energy. They can carry momentum. And what’s most interesting to astronomers is that they can carry information about the systems that produce them, and we can use them to understand the universe.”

LISA will search for low-frequency gravitational waves

Physicists will use detections from LISA to test Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. According to general relativity, some of the most cataclysmic events in the universe, including mergers of supermassive black holes, should produce highly specific gravitational-wave signatures.

LISA will be more sensitive to low-frequency gravitational waves than ground-based observatories such as LIGO. These lower-frequency waves correspond to the signals scientists expect to be produced by many massive black holes.