New York-based BoldlyGo Institute announced Sept. 13 the unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA to support development of Project Blue, a small space telescope intended to search for any Earth-like planets that may be orbiting Alpha Centauri, the star system closest to our sun.

"We're pleased to be working with NASA on this ambitious public-private partnership," Jon Morse, chief executive of BoldlyGo, said in a statement announcement the agreement. "Having access to NASA's scientific and technical expertise throughout the mission lifecycle is invaluable."

The agreement, which involves no exchange of funds, gives BoldlyGo access to NASA expertise as it develops the Project Blue spacecraft and carries out studies of Alpha Centauri. BoldlyGo will also provide both raw and processed data collected by the mission to publicly available NASA data archives.