🚀 Falcon 9 | 🛰 PUNCH and SPHEREx
Launch date: March 12, 2025 03:10 UTC
Payload: PUNCH and SPHEREx
Location: Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
Vehicle: Falcon 9
NASA’s PUNCH and SPHEREx missions were launched together aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on March 12, 2025. The PUNCH mission, a set of four satellites, will study the Sun’s corona and solar wind, and has already returned first-light images revealing colorful details in zodiacal light and the solar environment. The SPHEREx space telescope is now in orbit with the goal of mapping over 450 million galaxies and 100 million stars in infrared to advance our understanding of the evolution of the universe and the search for the ingredients for life. The article covers both missions’ early successes, with mention of the SPHEREx team ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in celebration, and highlights the valuable scientific data being returned from both payloads.
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SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) is part of the larger Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Originally built as Launch Complex 75-1-2 and used by the U.S. Air Force for Atlas-Agena and Titan rockets in the 1960s and 1970s, it was later refurbished by SpaceX beginning in 2011. SpaceX rebuilt the facility to support Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches aimed at sun-synchronous and polar orbits—trajectories best served from Vandenberg.
The first Falcon 9 launch from SLC-4E took place in September 2013. Since then, it has become SpaceX’s primary West Coast launch site, supporting both government and commercial payloads, including earth observation and reconnaissance satellites. In addition to supporting reusable launch vehicle operations, SLC-4E also hosts infrastructure for rocket landing and recovery, helping to advance SpaceX’s reusability efforts.