Ball Aerospace is providing the spacecraft bus and telescope for NASA/JPL’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx).
Raven Moreland is the lead for the Electrical Power Distribution Subsystem on NASA’s SPHEREx program.
Raven Moreland was responsible for procuring the solar array technology for the SPHEREx spacecraft within her first six months on the project.
NASA selected SPHEREx as a Medium-Class Explorers (MIDEX) astrophysics mission in 2019.
NASA awarded SpaceX a contract for the launch of the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) spacecraft on a Falcon 9 in June 2024.
SPHEREx was originally scheduled to launch in 2023 but is now scheduled to launch between June 2024 and April 2025, a delay in part because of the effects of the pandemic.
Among Falcon 9 launches, SPHEREx is among the most expensive at $98.8 million, with only IMAP more expensive at $109,400,000.
The SPHEREx launch is planned from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
SPHEREx is currently targeted to launch as early as June 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket.
The SPHEREx mission, selected by NASA for development in early 2019, experienced slowed work during the pandemic and its notional 2024 launch date might not hold.
Most secondary payload opportunities on SMD missions through 2024 are already filled, with the exception of the SPHEREx astrophysics mission launching in 2024.
NASA selected SPHEREx, Argus, and a third proposal called FINESSE for further study in August 2017.
SPHEREx will be built for launch in 2023 at a cost, excluding launch, of $242,000,000.