SPHEREx, (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer), near-infrared space observatory

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Operator - NASA

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex

SPHEREx on Wikipedia

 

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"NASA Sets Launch Coverage for Missions Studying Cosmic Origins, Sun"

by Roxana Bardan
February 18, 2025

 

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SPHEREx and PUNCH Launch (Official NASA Broadcast)

Streamed live Mar 12, 2025

Watch the launch of a NASA space telescope that will create a 3D all-sky map in 102 colors, with a constellation of solar-observing satellites along for the ride. Our SPHEREx observatory and PUNCH mission will lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. SPHEREx will survey the sky in optical and infrared light, gathering data on more than 450 million galaxies, and 100 million stars in our own galaxy. PUNCH will use four suitcase-sized satellites in low Earth orbit to observe the Sun, and tell us more about the space weather that can impact communications on Earth.

 

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Mar 12, 2025

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched SPHEREx and PUNCH from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 12 March 2025, at 03:10 UTC (11 March, at 20:10 PDT). Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1088) previously supported NROL-126 and Transporter-12. SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) is NASA’s newest space telescope that “will observe hundreds of millions of galaxies and other objects during its two-year mission, mapping the cosmos in wavelengths invisible to the human eye”. PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) is a “constellation of four small satellites in a polar (Sun-synchronous) low Earth orbit that will make global, 3D observations of the entire inner heliosphere to learn how the Sun's corona becomes the solar wind”.

 

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SPHEREx deployment

Mar 12, 2025

NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft was successfully deployed into orbit approximately 42 minutes after being launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 12 March 2025, at 03:10 UTC (11 March, at 20:10 PDT). SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) is NASA’s newest space telescope that “will observe hundreds of millions of galaxies and other objects during its two-year mission, mapping the cosmos in wavelengths invisible to the human eye”.