NASA has signed a contract with SpaceX to launch the SPHEREx space telescope, designed to study the origin of the universe and the subsequent development of galaxies, according to a NASA press release.
It is reported that as part of NASA’s two-year astrophysical mission SPHEREx, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will be launched with a space telescope for viewing the sky in the near-infrared range. According to NASA, the cost of the new mission is almost $ 100 million.
The telescope will also be used to search for water and organic molecules in the places where stars are born and on the disks around stars where new planets can form. During the mission, astronomers will collect data on more than 300 million galaxies and explore more than 100 million stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
The rocket launch with the telescope is scheduled for June 2024 from the space launch complex 4E from the Vandenberg space Center in California.
