Habitable Worlds Observatory - Project Update

[Presented at AAS-247 Special Session "NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory"] The Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Maturation Project Office (HWO-TMPO) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is executing a comprehensive pre-formulation program to mature critical technologies and mission architectures for NASA's next flagship mission after Roman. Since its start in August 2024, HWO-TMPO has systematically advanced the mission architecture through multiple Exploratory Analytic Cases and the Concept Maturity Levels. The project has advanced technologies across our three primary development tracks: coronagraph systems, ultra-stable telescope technologies, and high-sensitivity UV/visible instrumentation. This presentation will provide a technical and programmatic status update on HWO-TMPO's progress toward Mission Concept Review, including technology advancements and readiness assessments, testbed results, architectural trade study results, and risk mitigation strategies. It will also describe our path forward to directly image and characterize Earth-like exoplanets and enable breakthrough science across the far-ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths for the larger astronomy community.