NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Launched to Study Universe’s Origins, Detect Water

Four small satellites will also study how the Sun’s outer atmosphere becomes the solar wind.

BAE Systems employees work on NASA’s SPHEREx observatory in the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on Jan. 16, 2025. NASA via AP

A NASA space telescope was launched from California on March 11 on a mission to explore the origins of the universe and detect hidden reservoirs of water.

The SPHEREx telescope was carried into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:10 p.m. ET (8:10 p.m. PT).