NASA's SPHEREx space telescope successfully launches into space (finally) taking 600 photos a day

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 lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 11, 2025.

SPHEREx, is NASA’s newest astrophysics observatory, designed to uncover the mysteries and origins of the Universe, and will map the sky in over 100 different wavelengths.

After two failed attempts on March 08 and 10, NASA and SpaceX launched the SPHEREx space telescope – short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer – on March 11 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.