PUNCH Satellites Processing - Integration and Testing

Technicians conduct integration and testing of NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites during prelaunch operations inside Astrotech Space Operations on Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. PUNCH, consisting of four satellites, will produce continuous 3D images of the solar wind and solar storms as it travels from the Sun to Earth to better understand how material in the corona accelerates to become the solar wind that fills the solar system. PUNCH, along with NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), a space telescope, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late February 2025.

Technicians conduct integration and testing of NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites during prelaunch operations inside Astrotech Space Operations on Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. PUNCH, consisting of four satellites, will produce continuous 3D images of the solar wind and solar storms as it travels from the Sun to Earth to better understand how material in the corona accelerates to become the solar wind that fills the solar system. PUNCH, along with NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), a space telescope, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late February 2025.

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 HeliospherePUNCH Satellites Vandenberg Space Force Base in California