Moscow State University begins developing orbital telescope to study exoplanet atmospheres

Moscow State University Rector Viktor Sadovnichy announced that development had begun on an orbital telescope intended to detect atmospheres on planets beyond the Solar System. He discussed the project at the opening of the Nauka 0+ festival.

According to RBC, Sadovnichy linked the study of exoplanet atmospheres with the search for potential conditions for life. He said the university had begun creating the instrument. An atmosphere alone does not establish the presence of living organisms. The announcement concerns future observations, rather than a discovery already made.

Sadovnichy also discussed the university’s participation in HUNT, a Russian-Chinese project for a next-generation underwater neutrino telescope at Lake Baikal. Designed to study high-energy neutrinos, it is a separate undertaking from the proposed orbital search for atmospheres.

The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research describes HUNT’s planned detector volume as up to 30 cubic kilometres. That is a volume, rather than an area. The institute has reported plans to build the next-generation facility by 2040. Those parameters concern a future project, not a telescope of that scale already in operation.

Sadovnichy said HUNT should accelerate the detection of point sources of high-energy neutrinos and help investigate processes in blazars, active galactic nuclei and near black holes. He said further research would require equipment on a substantially larger scale.

The 2026 Nauka 0+ festival is dedicated to the anniversary of the first human spaceflight. At its opening, Sadovnichy presented the university’s space-research plans. RBC’s report did not give the orbital telescope’s name, launch date or technical specifications.