NASA, SpaceX Update Launch Date for SPHEREx and PUNCH Missions
NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Saturday, March 8, for the launch of the agency’s SPHEREx and PUNCH missions. The additional time will allow SpaceX to complete rocket preparations ahead of liftoff.
The launch window opens at 10:09 p.m. EST (7:09 p.m. PST) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California
The prelaunch news briefing now is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7, with coverage streaming live on NASA+. Media may ask questions via phone. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.
The SPHEREx and PUNCH live launch broadcast will begin at 9:15 p.m., Saturday, March 8, and stream live on NASA+.
Visit the NASA website for more information about SPHEREx and PUNCH.
Recent News
NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Sees Menagerie of Brown Dwarfs
NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) space telescope is shedding light on brown dwarfs, celestial objects that blur the line between stars and exoplanets. New findings published in The Astrophysical Journal show that these dark and cloudy worlds have chemically rich atmospheres not unlike the giant planets in our own solar...
Read More
SPHEREx Honored with RNASA Stellar Award
The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement awarded their 2026 Stellar Award to JPL's SPHEREx team for their outstanding contributions to space science and technology.
Read More
NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) mission has mapped interstellar ice at an unprecedented scale. Covering regions in our Milky Way galaxy more than 600 light-years across, the ice was found inside giant molecular clouds — vast regions of gas and dust where dense clumps of matter collapse under gravity, giving birth to...
Read More
NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Tracks Brightening of Interstellar Comet
NASA’s SPHEREx mission turned its infrared gaze on interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in December 2025, adding to the deep pool of information the agency has gathered on what is only the third such object to be discovered passing through our solar system.
Read More
SPHEREx Mission Team Wins ECAD Award
The SPHEREx Mission Team wins the Sylvia A. Earle Award for Exploration Excellence.
Read More