NASA's SPHEREx Space Telescope begins mission to create 3D Map of space

NASA's SPHEREx space telescope, launched in March 2025, has begun the main phase of its science mission. NASA says the instrument will capture about 3,600 images per day in 102 wavelengths of infrared light. It will take 25 months to survey the entire sky.

SPHEREx orbits the Earth about 14.5 times per day, taking pictures of patches of sky along its polar orbit. Over the course of six months, the telescope will cover the entire sky, creating four complete maps from the data it collects.

The mission's goal is to study the expansion of the Universe after the Big Bang, as well as to detect chemical compounds associated with the origin of life in our galaxy.