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PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere)

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Weather Looks Favorable for Launch of SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 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, is vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, March 8, 2025. SPHEREx will use its telescope to provide an all-sky spectral survey, creating a 3D map of the entire sky to help scientists investigate the origins of our universe. PUNCH will study origins of the Sun’s outflow of material, or the solar wind, capturing continuous 3D images of the Sun’s corona and the solar wind’s journey into the solar system.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 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, is vertical at Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, March 8, 2025. Photo credit: SpaceX

Weather officials with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 30 are predicting over a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for tonight’s launch.

NASA is targeting 8:10 p.m. PDT (11:10 p.m. EDT) for launch of the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.