The SPHEREx telescope will create the most colorful map of the cosmos, while the four satellites of the PUNCH mission track the evolution of the solar wind in three dimensions.

NASA’s newest space telescope, called SPHEREx, finally got off the ground this week, after a series of delays that had stalled its launch since late February. From low-Earth orbit, it will gather data on millions of stars and galaxies—and search for the ingredients of life.

NASA has launched a $488m infra-red mission to map the distribution of galaxies and study cosmic inflation. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission was launched yesterday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California by a SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket.

The $488 million Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years, and how the universe expanded so fast in its first moments.

NASA’s SPHEREx mission will survey the entire sky in 102 different “colors” of light, offering scientists an unprecedented look at the earliest days of the universe and much more

A semi-frontal view of the SPHEREx observatory is seen during integration and testing at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, U.S., in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on February 24, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY (Reuters) - A NASA telescope was launched into space from California on Tuesday for a mission to explore the origins of the universe and to scour the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water,

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from California carrying the telescope, named SPHEREx, along with a suite of satellites called PUNCH.

NASA’s SPHEREx mission has successfully communicated with Earth, marking the start of an ambitious journey to map the cosmos. Over the next two years, the telescope will scan the entire sky, gathering data from over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars to unlock the universe’s origins.

The observatories launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, during what appeared to be a picture-perfect launch.