NASA Schedules SPHEREx Launch for Late February 2025, Aims to Uncover Secrets of Universe's Early Days

In a significant step forward for astrophysics research, NASA has tentatively set a launch date for its upcoming space observatory, SPHEREx. Scheduled to blast off in late February 2025, the mission will ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The telescope is approximately the size of a subcompact car and is designed to sweep through the entire sky, creating a three-dimensional map of every direction, including the interior of space itself. This unprecedented view will capture hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in 102 distinct colors, each representing a different wavelength of light.

According to astronomers, this vast dataset will be instrumental in achieving the mission's primary objectives, which include shedding light on inflation – a fleeting yet monumental cosmic event that briefly expanded space by a trillion-trillionfold in less than a second following the Big Bang. By charting the distribution patterns of hundreds of millions of galaxies, researchers hope to unravel the mysteries surrounding this pivotal event and gain profound insights into its underlying physical principles.

The SPHEREx all-sky map will provide valuable information on what triggered inflation and illuminate key areas within astrophysics research in 2025 and beyond.