NASA's physics of the cosmos and cosmic origins programs manage strategic astrophysics technology development in preparation for the next decadal survey

Future strategic astrophysics missions intend to answer the questions “How did our universe begin and evolve?” “How did galaxies, stars, and planets come to be?” and “Are we alone?” Enabling these missions requires advances in key technologies far beyond the current state of the art. NASA’s Physics of the Cosmos 2 (PCOS), Cosmic Origins 3 (COR), and Exoplanet Exploration Program 4 (ExEP) Program Offices (POs) manage projects to develop these technologies, which are funded through the Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT) program, as well as via directed funding. We present an overview of the Programs’ technology development activities and the current investment portfolio of technology advancements, including those that support four large-mission concepts in preparation for the upcoming Decadal Survey. The PCOS PO also supports funding for US contributionsto the European Space Agency (ESA) Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitationalwave observatory and the Athena X-ray mission. We discuss our process for identifying and prioritizing technology investments by the NASA Astrophysics Division, which is informed by the National Research Council’s (NRC) “New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics” (NWNH), 2010 Decadal Survey report [1], the Astrophysics Implementation Plan [2] (AIP), and the Astrophysics Roadmap “Enduring Quests, Daring Visions” [3].