The STScI Director, Dr. Jennifer Lotz, has accepted the primary recommendation of the Working Group on Strategic Exoplanet Initiatives, and has decided to proceed with a large-scale survey of rocky M-dwarf exoplanets. The program will use around 500 hours of Director’s Discretionary Time on the James Webb Space Telescope to search for atmospheres in more than a dozen nearby systems. Approximately 250 orbits of ultraviolet observations with the Hubble Space Telescope will be used to characterize the activity of the host stars. The observations will be executed by an STScI Core Implementation Team led by Dr. Nestor Espinoza, supported by Dr. Hannah Diamond-Lowe as the team Deputy.

STScI is also recruiting an external Science Advisory Committee (SAC) to provide advice on all aspects of the program, including target selection, data verification, and equitable community interactions. The SAC membership will be representative of the broader exoplanet community, spanning a wide range of institutional affiliations and career stages. STScI will shortly announce an opportunity to submit nominations, including self-nominations. Community input will be solicited on the target list; observing plans will be published well in advance of the JWST Cycle 4 deadline.