Miles Jamison
BAE Systems has concluded environmental testing on NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer Observatory, or SPHEREx, which brings the project closer to its scheduled February 2025 launch.
SPHEREx Mission Objectives
The company said Monday the SPHEREx mission is intended to provide new insights into the formation of the universe. It aims to map the entire sky using an advanced imager with high-resolution color and near-infrared light features.
The mission will survey the sky four times and collect data on over 450 million galaxies and millions of stars in the solar system. This is expected to generate detailed color maps of the sky as well as the 3D distribution of galaxies.
Scientists aim to understand the universe’s expansion after the Big Bang, including the formation of ancient galaxies. The SPHEREx mission also seeks to learn how water and other essential components for life contributed to the formation of planets.
Furthermore, SPHEREx will support future missions by determining possible targets for further study. These celestial bodies will be studied by other satellites like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
BAE Systems’ Role
BAE Systems constructed SPHEREx mission’s satellite bus, telescope and cover. The defense contractor then spearheaded its integration and environmental testing to evaluate the satellite bus’s performance under electrical disruptions such as thermal vacuum, vibration, acoustics and electromagnetic interference and compatibility.
Alberto Conti, vice president and general manager of space & mission systems at BAE Systems, stated, “SPHEREx will allow us to look back into the early universe and provide new insights into how and why it came to be as it is. We’re excited to help uncover these enduring mysteries and to continue our long-standing support of NASA’s astrophysics missions.”
