SPHEREx Telescope at JPL

The telescope for NASA's SPHEREx mission undergoes testing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in September 2023. The telescope collects infrared light from distant sources using three mirrors and six detectors. It is tilted on its base so it can see as much of the sky as possible while remaining within the protection of the spacecraft's photon shields – three concentric cones that protect the telescope from light and heat from the Sun and Earth.

SPHEREx is managed by JPL for NASA's Astrophysics Division within the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Ball Aerospace built the telescope and will supply the spacecraft bus. The science analysis of the SPHEREx data will be conducted by a team of scientists located at 10 institutions across the U.S. and in South Korea. Data will be processed and archived at IPAC at Caltech. The SPHEREx data set will be publicly available.

For more information about the SPHEREx mission, visit: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/spherex/