[Launch Alert] Falcon 9 Launched

[Launch Alert]

The following is an update from SpaceX:

"On Tuesday, March 11 at 8:10 p.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched NASA’s SPHEREx observatory and PUNCH satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

This was the third flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-126 and Transporter-12.

During its two-year mission, the SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) Observatory will collect data on more than 450 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars to improve our understanding of how the universe evolved while also searching for water and oxygen molecules. The PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites will observe the Sun and its environment to help scientists better understand the effect of solar winds on our solar system."