SPHEREx

SPHEREx

Falcon 9 APR TBD 2025

The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will provide the first all-sky spectral survey. Over a two-year planned mission, the SPHEREx Observatory will collect data on more than 300 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way in order to explore the origins of the universe.

Last updated: May 10, 2024

Launch Information

Launch Information

Launch Vehicle Details

Mission NameSPHEREx
Launch SitePad TBD, Cape Canaveral / KSC TBD, Florida, United States
Launch VehicleFalcon 9
AgencySpaceX
Launch DateAPR TBD 2025

SPHEREx is a future near-infrared space observatory that will perform an all-sky survey to measure the near-infrared spectra of approximately 450 million galaxies. In February 2019, SPHEREx was selected by NASA for its next Medium-Class Explorers mission, beating out two competing mission concepts: Arcus and FINESSE. As of August 2022, SPHEREx is targeted to launch no earlier than April 2025 on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The principal investigator is James Bock at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.

Launch Vehicle - Falcon 9

Height70 m / 229.6 ft
Diameter3.7 m / 12 ft
Mass549054 Kg / 1207920 lb
Stages2
Payload To LEO22800 Kg / 50265 lb
Payload To GTO8300 Kg / 18300 lb
Payload To Mars4020 Kg / 8860 lb
Burn Time397 sec
PropellantLOX / RP-1
Number Of Engine1 vacuum