SPHEREx Live Tracker
NASA's SPHEREx, launched 11 March 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg. The first space telescope to spectrally map the entire sky in 102 near-infrared bands, cataloguing the chemistry of the early universe and probing biogenic ices in the molecular clouds where new stars form. Now working through its third all-sky pass from a sun-synchronous polar orbit at 650 km.
All-Sky Survey Progress: Second Survey Now 68% Complete
SPHEREx is now well into its third all-sky pass, having completed its first full sky map in October 2025 and its second in the spring of 2026. Each 6.5-month survey covers every point in the sky in all 102 near-infrared bands, and the project targets four surveys during the primary mission for a full 3D spectral map of the local universe.
The First Spectral Map of the Entire Sky
SPHEREx is NASA's first mission to spectrally map the entire sky, not just image it. Where JWST stares deep at one target at a time, SPHEREx scans every point of the sky in 102 near-infrared bands, then does it three more times over two years, catching everything that moves or brightens along the way.
The Three-Part Spectral Survey Machine
SPHEREx has a single wide-field telescope feeding six detector arrays covered by linear variable filters, so every point of sky is spectrally mapped in 102 bands as the spacecraft steps across it.
From Launch to Second Survey
What SPHEREx Has Started to Show
Only 18 months into a two-year primary survey, SPHEREx is already the first mission ever to deliver full-sky spectra in the near-infrared, opening up whole classes of science that were previously impossible.
SPHEREx vs Hubble, JWST and WISE
SPHEREx is the only current all-sky spectral surveyor. Its cousins stare deep at small patches: SPHEREx maps everything at once.
Why SPHEREx Maps the Sky the Way It Does
Traditional space telescopes stare at one target at a time. JWST can spend a full day on a single distant galaxy. SPHEREx does the opposite: it sweeps 30 square degrees of sky every orbit, and across two years it covers every point in the sky through 102 near-infrared bands, then does it three more times. The result is not one deep image but a full 3D spectral map of every star, galaxy, and time-variable source in the local universe.
Why the sun-synchronous orbit matters
SPHEREx has no active refrigeration. Its detectors and optics are cooled to 60 K purely by radiating heat to deep space, using a nested set of photon shields that always face away from the Sun. That only works if the Sun angle never changes, which is exactly what a sun-synchronous orbit delivers: the orbit plane precesses around Earth once per year, matching Earth's motion around the Sun, so the Sun always sits in the same direction relative to the spacecraft.
Complementary to JWST
SPHEREx is designed to feed JWST. Its all-sky spectral catalogue identifies interesting objects (unusual ice mixtures, high-redshift galaxies, sudden brightenings) that JWST then follows up with much deeper spectroscopy. Together they cover the range from "survey the whole sky" to "spend a week on the most interesting spot".
What comes next
The primary mission ends in Q2 2027 after four complete all-sky surveys. An extended mission is under consideration and would push the survey deeper for cosmological analyses. In the longer term, ESA's planned wide-field NIR mission (Ariel-follow-on) targets the 2030s.
SPHEREx, Frequently Asked
Where is SPHEREx right now?
Is SPHEREx still operating in 2026?
When was SPHEREx launched?
What is SPHEREx looking for?
What is SPHEREx's orbit?
How many spectral bands does SPHEREx observe?
How is SPHEREx different from JWST?
Can I see SPHEREx from Earth?
Related on Orbital Radar
Embed the SPHEREx Tracker
Add the live SPHEREx widget to your site or article. No account, no attribution required, works everywhere.