SPHEREx/PUNCH Prelaunch New Conference

1st Lt. Ina Park, launch weather officer, 30th Operations Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force participates in a prelaunch news conference on Friday, March 7, 2025, to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s corona and the solar wind’s journey into the solar system. Liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is NET targeted for 10:10 p.m. EST (7:10 p.m. PST), Saturday, March 8, 2025, at Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

1st Lt. Ina Park, launch weather officer, 30th Operations Support Squadron, U.S. Air Force participates in a prelaunch news conference on Friday, March 7, 2025, to discuss the upcoming launch of NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s corona and the solar wind’s journey into the solar system. Liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is NET targeted for 10:10 p.m. EST (7:10 p.m. PST), Saturday, March 8, 2025, at Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Photographer NASA/Jim Ross
Album Spacex_SPHEREx_PUNCH
NASANational Aeronautical and Space AdministrationKSCKennedy Space CenterLSPLaunch Services ProgramSpaceX Falcon 9Vandenberg Space Force BaseAstrotech Space OperationsSPHERExSpectro-Photometer for the History of the UniverseEpoch of Reionization and Ices ExplorerPUNCHPolarimeter to Unify the Corona and HeliosphereCenter