PUNCH

NASA’s PUNCH Mission Captures First Images of Sun, Space

NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission successfully completed spacecraft commissioning this week, opening its instrument doors to capture “first light,” the mission’s first images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere and the surrounding space. This is the first step in revealing new details of how the solar atmosphere unfolds and streams through the solar system. Now, mission operation teams will continue the commissioning phase for the spacecraft’s instruments.

On April 14, the Narrow Field Imager (NFI) and one of the mission’s three Wide Field Imagers (WFI) opened its instrument doors and captured the first images for the mission. On April 16, the remaining WFIs opened their doors and also started capturing images. The first NFI image shows star fields with the Sun near the center of the image. The image was filtered to emphasize background star fields, which was obscured by zodiacal light, a very faint diffuse glow from dust orbiting the Sun.

Many dim specks of light are visible across a black background. These are stars. In the middle, the Sun is indicated with a yellow cartoon star. A thin green line crosses from the bottom left of the image, up to the center right. Another crosses from the bottom left, up to the top center. It is labeled Pisces. The image is labeled PUNCH/NFI, First Light, 2025-April-14. — The first light image taken on April 14, 2025, by the PUNCH Narrow Field Imager demonstrates that the camera is in focus, working properly, and able to capture deep-field images of the solar corona against the glare of the Sun. This image has been filtered to highlight the stars that are visible through the far brighter “F corona” (also called zodiacal light) that surrounds the Sun. The instrument is not yet fully aligned with the Sun, leading to bright glints of sunlight, which are visible to the right of the Sun’s location on the image.
Credits: NASA/SwRI/NRL

Throughout the commissioning phase, scientists will be calibrating this view to better reveal details the Sun’s corona, or wispy outer atmosphere. This calibration process will remove about 99% of the light from the corona, enabling scientists to track the faint threads of solar material as they flow outward throughout space.

The WFI image below, taken April 14, shows the wide field of view from WFI and is marked with labeled constellations. As commissioning progresses, the PUNCH team will be removing the star fields and other background light from all images to highlight the faint stream of solar wind as it travels toward Earth.

The bottom 8th of the image is black. In the middle is a very small cartoon Sun, indicating the Sun. This region is labeled Baffle. Above it, an orange haze fills the image, starting bright and getting fainter as it reaches the top corners. This haze is labeled zodiacal light. Several stars are labeled, circled in green, and constellations are connected with green lines. The image is labeled PUNCH/WFI, First Light, 2025-April-14. — The first light image from the PUNCH Wide Field Imager (WFI) taken on April 14, 2025. This image shows the size of the WFI field using familiar constellations and demonstrates that the camera is in focus, working properly, and able to capture deep-field images. The soft diffuse glow is zodiacal light, composed of microscopic dust particles orbiting the Sun.
Credits: NASA/SwRI

These early images confirm a crucial milestone: the cameras onboard PUNCH’s four satellites are in focus and functioning as designed.

The PUNCH mission will make global, 3D observations of the inner solar system and the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, to learn how its mass and energy become the solar wind, a stream of charged particles blowing outward from the Sun in all directions. The mission will explore the formation and evolution of space weather events such as coronal mass ejections, which can create storms of energetic particle radiation that can endanger spacecraft and astronauts.

During this first phase of the commissioning period, the team at mission control at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, worked to assure that the four satellites were functioning correctly and are moving into the proper orbit around Earth and distance from each other to create the PUNCH constellation.

The PUNCH satellites include one NFI and three WFIs. The NFI is a coronagraph, which blocks out the bright light from the Sun to better see details in the Sun’s corona. The WFIs are heliospheric imagers that view the very faint, outermost portion of the solar corona and the solar wind itself. Once the PUNCH satellites reach their targeted alignment, the images from these instruments will be stitched together to create the wide view of the journey of the Sun’s corona and solar wind to Earth.

Once the commissioning is complete, PUNCH will provide the first-ever imagery of the solar wind and coronal mass ejections in polarized light, enabling scientists to discern new information about this activity.

Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, Texas, leads the PUNCH mission and operates the four spacecraft from its facilities in Boulder, Colorado. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

By Abbey Interrante
NASA Headquarters, Washington

NASA’s PUNCH Begins Mission to Study Solar Wind

Mission controllers for NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) have received full acquisition of signal from the four small satellites, indicating that they are functioning normally and at full power.

Over a two-year planned mission, PUNCH will make global, 3D observations of the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, and how it becomes the solar wind.

Artist's concept of the PUNCH satellites in orbit. — Artist’s concept of the PUNCH satellites in orbit. Credit: NASA

The solar wind and energetic solar events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections can create space weather effects throughout the solar system. These phenomena can have a significant impact on human society and technology, from sparking and intensifying auroras to interfering with satellites or triggering power outages.

The measurements from PUNCH will provide scientists with new information about how these potentially disruptive events form and evolve. This could lead to more accurate and crucial predictions about the arrival of space weather events at Earth and their impact on humanity’s robotic explorers in space.

All four spacecraft are synchronized to serve as a single “virtual instrument” that spans the whole PUNCH constellation. The PUNCH mission will downlink data multiple times a day via ground-based antennas on Earth that are managed by the Swedish Space Corporation. Then, the data will be sent to the mission operations center at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) offices in Boulder, Colorado, which will share it with the science operations center, also at SwRI.

The data will be available to the public at the same time it is available to the science team. All PUNCH data will be published through the Solar Data Analysis Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, ensuring open access to the scientific community and public.

Southwest Research Institute, based in San Antonio, Texas, leads the PUNCH mission and will operate the four spacecraft from its facilities in Boulder, Colorado. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA Goddard for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Join the online conversation and get mission updates from these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASAJPL, @NASAUniverse, @NASASun, @NASAKennedy, @NASA_LSP 
Facebook: NASA, NASA’s JPL, NASA Universe, NASASunScience, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASAJPL, @NASAUniverse

For more information about the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions, visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/spherex/

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/punch/

This concludes NASA’s live launch coverage.

Signal Acquired: NASA’s SPHEREx Begins Science Mission

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission controllers celebrate acquisition of signal after launch on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo credit: NASA+

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) mission controllers on Earth have received full acquisition of signal from the observatory, indicating the spacecraft is functioning nominally and is power positive.

In the weeks ahead, the SPHEREx team will prepare the observatory for its survey operations – conducting calibrations, cooling the telescope to its designed operating temperature, and characterizing its optical performance in space.

Over a two-year planned mission, SPHEREx will then collect data on more than 450 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way in order to explore the origins of the universe, contributing to NASA Science’s key goals to discover the secrets of the universe and search for life elsewhere.

The mission’s 3D all-sky map will help scientists answer big-picture questions about the universe. The mission will investigate a cosmic phenomenon called inflation that caused the universe to expand rapidly for a fraction of a second after the big bang, measure the collective glow created by galaxies near and far, including hidden galaxies that have not been individually observed, and search the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water, carbon dioxide, and other essential ingredients for life.

The SPHEREx mission’s ability to scan large sections of the sky quickly and gather data on millions of objects complements the work of more targeted telescopes, like NASA’s Hubble and James Webb, and the observatory’s data will be freely available to scientists around the world, providing a new encyclopedia of information about hundreds of millions of cosmic objects.

NASA’s PUNCH Satellites Deployed

NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites are deployed after launching from Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. — NASA’s PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites are deployed after launching from Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo credit: NASA+

Deployment of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission’s four satellites has occurred.

Following a 90-day commissioning period, the PUNCH mission is scheduled to conduct science for at least two years.

NASA’s PUNCH will observe the Sun’s corona as it transitions into the solar wind, supporting NASA Science’s key goals by creating a broad awareness and understanding of how the Sun creates conditions that influence Earth and space, which is increasingly part of the human domain.

By providing scientists with new information about how these potentially disruptive solar events form and evolve, data from PUNCH could lead to more accurate prediction about the arrival and impact of such events on Earth and for humanity’s robotic explorers in space.

Starting in about 20 minutes, PUNCH mission teams will start the process of acquiring signals from each of the four spacecraft to confirm they are functioning nominally.

For continued updates on the PUNCH mission, visit the mission blog:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/punch/

SPHEREx Observatory Separates From Rocket

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory separates from a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage after launching from Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. — NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory separates from a SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage after launching from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo credit: NASA+

NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory has separated from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, on its way to begin its science mission from a sun-synchronous orbit about 404 miles (650 kilometers) above the Earth’s surface.

In about 10 minutes, deployment of the PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission’s four satellites will begin.

First Stage Sticks the Landing, Second Stage Engine Cuts Off

After launching NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites, a first stage booster lands at Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Landing Zone 4 in California. Photo credit: NASA+

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage has successfully landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Landing Zone 4 in California. Meanwhile, the engine in the Falcon 9’s second stage has cut off.

The next milestone will be when the SPHEREx observatory separates from the rocket’s second stage in about 30 minutes.

Launch Vehicle Reaches Max Q, Booster Engines Cutoff

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin engines have finished their burn, and the first stage has separated from the rocket. As the second stage continues carrying SPHEREx and PUNCH to orbit, the rocket’s first stage will attempt a controlled landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Landing Zone 4.

Liftoff of SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions!

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites, lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Photo credit: NASA+

Ignition, and liftoff! At 11:10 p.m. EDT (8:10 p.m. PDT), SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Space Launch Complex 4 East, carrying NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) missions.

Stay here on the blog as we take you through some key flight milestones, coming up in the next couple of minutes.

SPHEREx, PUNCH Missions ‘Go’ for Launch

NASA Launch Manager Dr. Denton Gibson has just given the final “go” for launch of NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) observatory and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) satellites!

The spacecraft is on internal power and configured for launch. In the next few moments, the rocket’s autonomous internal flight computers will take over the launch countdown, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin engines will roar to life, sending SPHEREx and PUNCH on the start of their journeys to scientific discovery.

Second Stage Fueling Started

SpaceX confirms that fueling for the Falcon 9’s second stage carrying NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) and PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) missions is underway at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The Falcon 9 Merlin engines — originally designed for recovery and reuse — use RP-1 and liquid oxygen as rocket propellants in a gas-generator power cycle.

In several minutes, engine chill will begin on the rocket in preparation for launch, followed by the rocket and spacecraft transitioning to internal power.

This will be NASA’s Launch Services Program 11th mission using a SpaceX rocket, and the program’s 106th end-to-end science mission.

Liftoff is just under 10 minutes away.