NASA and SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, have announced that they will collaborate to provide launch services for the Spectro-Photometer for Earth History, Epoch of Reionization, and the Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission. SPHEREx is a $ 98.8 million two-year mission that aims to study the skies in near-infrared light.
This light is not visible to the human eye, and can be a prime way to answer humorous questions involving the birth of the universe. The mission will also be looking for water and organic molecules in stellar nurseries where stars are born as well as in discs around stars.
In total, data will be collected on over 300 million galaxies, as well as over 100 million stars in our very own Milky Way galaxy. The SPHEREx mission is scheduled to launch as early as June 2024 on a Falcon 9 rocket.
This is not the only NASA partnership in effectiveness. Last November, NASA announced a collaboration with 17 U.S. companies for 20 partnerships to mature space technologies for the Moon and beyond. These companies included Blue Origin, Stage Four, Rocket Lab USA, Sensuron, and more.
“Space technology development will not take place in space,” said Jim Reuter, the associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Steering Group (STMD), which conducted the selections and will lead the partnerships. Whether companies are pursuing space missions Their own advanced systems or mature to one day offer a new service to NASA, the organization is committed to helping bring new capabilities to market for our benefit each other. ”
The partnerships will see the creation of a 3D printed system for NASA ‘s Artemis program, a test of a method for removing dust from planetary solar arrays, and more. Last October, NASA announced a partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to work on the Artemis Gateway. NASA seems to have been very busy!