The SETI Institute is a non-profit astrobiology and Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence research organization based in Mountain View, California. Its President and CEO, Bill Diamond, is a member of the IAA SETI Committee and endorsed that committee’s June 2026 revision of the SETI post-detection-protocols (src-seti-detection-protocols-revision-2026-06). It is institutionally distinct from the broader seti concept but runs or partners on many of the major technosignature programs, including breakthrough-listen.
The Institute publishes a news channel that covers its scientists’ work and related exoplanet/astrobiology results — source of src-alpha-centauri-a-exoplanet-2026 (Franck Marchis interviewing STScI’s Julien Girard on the JWST Alpha Centauri A candidate) and the BLIPSS announcement.
SETI Institute also conceived and advocates for project-blue, a dedicated telescope to directly image planets around alpha-centauri A and B.
Programs and partnerships
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BLIPSS — Cornell + SETI Institute + Breakthrough Listen 4–8 GHz GBT Galactic Center search for periodic spectral signals (src-seti-galactic-center-search-2025-07). Lead akshay-suresh; advisor vishal-gajjar; GBT Project Scientist steve-croft (SETI Institute Adjunct Senior Astronomer).
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Orpheus — Mars VTOL hopper mission proposal by connor-bunn and pascal-lee (57th lunar-and-planetary-science-conference); targets extant-life biosignatures in Cerberus Fossae volcanic vents (src-orpheus-mars-volcanic-hopper-2026-04)
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Allen Telescope Array — the Institute’s radio array at Hat Creek Radio Observatory. Used by sofia-sheikh et al. for a June 2026 Astronomical Journal technosignature search of interstellar comet 3i-atlas (7+ hrs; null result; transmitter upper limit ~10–110 W) (src-3i-atlas-technosignature-null-2026-06).
SETI Institute meteor astronomer peter-jenniskens led a July 2026 Science Advances study of the hillsborough-meteorite, a rare CM1/2 carbonaceous-chondrite recovered after a July 2024 New Jersey house strike — an astrobiology/prebiotic-chemistry result distinct from the Institute’s SETI/technosignature programs above (src-nj-meteorite-alien-chemistry-2026-07).
Sources
- src-alpha-centauri-a-exoplanet-2026
- src-seti-galactic-center-search-2025-07
- src-orpheus-mars-volcanic-hopper-2026-04
- src-3i-atlas-technosignature-null-2026-06
- src-seti-detection-protocols-revision-2026-06
- src-nj-meteorite-alien-chemistry-2026-07 — Jul 15 2026: Peter Jenniskens’ Hillsborough meteorite study