SPHEREx – Spaceflight Now

NASA, SpaceX launch SPHEREx and PUNCH missions following spacecraft-driven scrub

March 10, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The infrared space telescope and Sun-centric missions will launch on a rideshare Falcon 9 flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Monday, March 10. Liftoff happened Tuesday, March 11, at 8:10 p.m. PDT (11:10 p.m. EDT, 0310 UTC).

NASA selects mission to probe the history of galaxies

February 14, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected a space telescope named SPHEREx for launch in 2023 on a mission to survey the sky in near-infrared wavelengths, collecting spectral data to study the origins of the universe and ices in our own galaxy that could help seed life on planets.

Q&A with Jamie Bock, principal investigator of NASA’s SPHEREx mission (members only)

February 14, 2019 Stephen Clark

Jamie Bock, a professor of physics at Caltech, is principal investigator of the SPHEREx astrophysics mission selected by NASA on Feb. 13 as the next medium-class mission in the agency’s line of Explorer probes.

Orbital ATK has no plans to phase out seldom-used Pegasus rocket

December 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

The build-up of Orbital ATK’s next air-launched Pegasus XL rocket will start in the coming weeks at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and while its flight in mid-2017 is the last Pegasus launcher on the manifest with a confirmed payload, company officials are confident the unique vehicle has a future beyond next year.

NASA picks candidates for new space telescope

August 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected three finalists for a new Explorer-class astrophysics satellite mission scheduled to launch by the end of 2020, and two of the proposals aim to fulfill similar goals to an X-ray telescope shelved after cost overruns in 2012.