• SPHEREx began its two-year mission on May 1, 2025, to map the entire sky in infrared light, capturing 3,600 images daily.
• The mission aims to study cosmic inflation, the structure of galaxies, and the origins of water and life-enabling compounds.
• SPHEREx's comprehensive infrared maps will complement other missions and help scientists build a more complete picture of the universe.

NASA's SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope has commenced its two-year mission to map the entire sky in 102 infrared wavelengths. The observatory, launched on March 25, 2025, will take approximately 3,600 images daily, generating four complete sky maps by the end of its 25-month mission. SPHEREx's unique ability to observe in so many infrared colors is expected to provide new insights into the universe's origins, the distribution of galaxies, and the building blocks of life, complementing data from other space telescopes.

• What: The SPHEREx mission aims to create a full-sky infrared map by taking approximately 3,600 images per day for two years. It will observe 102 wavelengths of infrared light, which are invisible to the human eye.
• Who: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Caltech, Shawn Domagal-Goldman (acting director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division), Jim Fanson (SPHEREx’s project manager at JPL), Jamie Bock (SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech)
• When: Launched on March 25, 2025; science operations began on May 1, 2025; planned 25-month mission; four sky surveys will be compiled over two years.
• Where: Earth orbit (polar orbit, from North to South Pole)

The SPHEREx mission is significant because it will be the first to map the entire sky in so many infrared colors. This comprehensive view will allow scientists to study cosmic inflation, the distribution of galaxies, and the origins of water and life-enabling compounds. The mission's findings will complement those of other space telescopes, such as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, providing a more complete picture of the universe. The data gathered by SPHEREx will help address fundamental questions about the universe's origins and the conditions necessary for life to arise.

We’re going to study what happened on the smallest size scales in the universe’s earliest moments by looking at the modern universe on the largest scales. I think there’s a poetic arc to that.

Thanks to the hard work of teams across NASA, industry, and academia that built this mission, SPHEREx is operating just as we’d expected and will produce maps of the full sky unlike any we’ve had before.

The performance of the instrument is as good as we hoped. That means we’re going to be able to do all the amazing science we planned on and perhaps even get some unexpected discoveries.

NASA's SPHEREx mission has begun its two-year journey to map the entire sky in infrared light, offering a unique perspective on the universe's origins and the potential for life. By capturing thousands of images daily and observing a wide range of infrared wavelengths, SPHEREx is poised to contribute significantly to our understanding of the cosmos. The data gathered will complement other missions and provide a more complete picture of the universe, potentially leading to unexpected discoveries.