S. Korea and NASA will begin developing a space telescope

The Korea Institute of Astronomy and Space Science will begin a space project to develop a space telescope with U.S. space agency NASA and the California Institute of Technology, the ICT Ministry announced here Wednesday.

The space project, titled Spectro-Photometer for Earth History, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explore, or SPHEREx, is a two-year mission designed to launch a space telescope that would collect data that would help by understanding the history of the hemisphere, the ministry said.

The project is managed by NASA’s Jet Dedication Laboratory funded at $ 242 million and aims to launch between 2024 and 2025.

Once successfully positioned in low orbit on Earth, the spacecraft will begin mapping the skies once every six months during its biennial mission, collecting huge data of stars, galaxies, nebulae and other celestial objects.

During the development process, KASI will provide scientific analysis and a cryogenic room, which will be used to test the space telescope, according to the ministry.

Caltech will work with JPL at NASA to develop the mission’s payload responsibility. Ball Aerospace delivers the spacecraft and mission integration, the ministry added.

In 2016, KASI and its research partner Caltech first proposed the project to NASA’s Astrophysics Research Program. The proposal was accepted by the U.S. space agency in 2019 after a series of reviews and received final approval on Wednesday.

Le Shim Woo-hyun ([email protected])