NASA's SPHEREx Telescope Arrives for Final Launch Preparations

NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), a space telescope, arrives at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, Jan. 14. SPHEREx will enter a polar orbit around Earth and create a 3D map of the entire sky, gathering information about millions of galaxies for scientists to study what happened after the big bang, the history of galaxy evolution, and the origins of water in planetary systems in our galaxy. SPHEREx will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late February 2025. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Tony Vauclin

NASA's SPHEREx spacecraft arrived Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Astrotech Space Operations located inside Vandenberg Space Force Base in California for final processing before launching on its two-year mission.

The SPHEREx(Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer)observatory is targeted to launch at the end of February on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E.

Following launch, SPHEREx will supportNASA's goals of discovering the secrets of the universe and searching for the ingredients for life elsewhere. The telescope will scan the sky in the infrared spectrum from a position in Earth orbit and complete four all-sky maps. These will allow scientists to learn about a variety of topics, including the origins of water on planets like Earth, to the physics that governed the universe less than one second after its birth. 

After final tests and checkouts, teams will mate SPHEREx and its rideshare PUNCH(Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) in preparation for encapsulation in the payload fairings of the Falcon 9 rocket.

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