![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1-spherex-telescope.webp\")
<\/a><\/figure>Media accreditation is open for the launch of two NASA missions that will explore the mysteries of our universe and Sun.<\/p>\n
The agency is targeting late February to launch its SPHEREx<\/a> (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory, a space telescope that will create a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. NASA\u2019s PUNCH<\/a> (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which will study origins of the Sun\u2019s outflow of material, or the solar wind, also will ride to space with the telescope.<\/p>\n NASA and SpaceX will launch the missions aboard the company\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.<\/p>\n Accredited media will have the opportunity to participate in a series of prelaunch briefings and interviews with key mission personnel, including a\u00a0science briefing\u00a0the week of launch. NASA will communicate additional details regarding the media event schedule as the launch date approaches.<\/p>\n Media interested in covering the launch must apply for\u00a0media accreditation<\/a>. The application deadline for U.S. citizens is 11:59 p.m. EST, Thursday, Feb. 6, while international media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 11:59 p.m., Monday, Jan. 20.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s media accreditation policy<\/a> is available online. For questions about accreditation, please email:\u00a0ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov<\/a>. For other mission questions, please contact the newsroom at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 321-867-2468.<\/p>\n Para obtener informaci\u00f3n sobre cobertura en espa\u00f1ol en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en espa\u00f1ol, comun\u00edquese con Antonia Jaramillo: 321-501-8425, o Messod Bendayan: 256-930-1371.<\/em><\/p>\n Updates about spacecraft launch preparations are available on\u00a0the agency\u2019s SPHEREx blog<\/a> and PUNCH blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n The SPHEREx mission will observe hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in infrared light, a range of wavelengths not visible to the human eye. With this map, SPHEREx will enable scientists to study inflation, or the rapid expansion of the universe a fraction of a second after the big bang. The observatory also will measure the collective glow from galaxies near and far, including light from hidden galaxies that individually haven\u2019t been observed, and look for reservoirs of water, carbon dioxide, and other key ingredients for life in our home galaxy.<\/p>\n Launching as a rideshare with SPHEREx, the agency\u2019s PUNCH mission is made up of four suitcase-sized satellites that will spread out around Earth\u2019s day-night line to observe the Sun and space with a combined field of view. Working together, the four satellites will map out the region where the Sun\u2019s outer atmosphere, the corona, transitions to the solar wind, or the constant outflow of material from the Sun.<\/p>\n The SPHEREx observatory is managed by NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California for the Astrophysics Division within the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission principal investigator is based jointly at NASA JPL and Caltech. Formerly Ball Aerospace, BAE Systems built the telescope, supplied the spacecraft bus, and performed observatory integration. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions in the U.S., two in South Korea, and one in Taiwan. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC<\/a> at Caltech. The SPHEREx data set will be publicly available.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s PUNCH mission is led by Southwest Research Institute\u2019s office in Boulder, Colorado. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate.\u00a0NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, manages the launch service for the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions.<\/p>\n For more details about the SPHEREx mission and updates on launch preparations, visit:<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/spherex<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n -end-<\/p>\n Alise Fisher (SPHEREx) Sarah Frazier (PUNCH) Laura Aguiar
Headquarters, Washington
202-617-4977
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-593-6245
laura.aguiar@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n