SPHEREx & PUNCH
Falcon 9 Block 5
SpaceX
Rocket Launch Videos
Weather Forecast During Launch
According to weather officials, there's a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch. The forecast calls for a temperature of 56°F, scattered clouds, 42% cloud cover and a wind speed of 2mph.
Trajectory
View comprehensive details including the rocket's trajectory, velocity, altitude, thrust, and more at FlightClub.io.
Rocket Launch Timeline
Enhance your rocket launch experience with a detailed timeline! From pre-launch preparations to post-launch milestones, a well-structured schedule ensures every step—payload prep, safety checks, and liftoff—runs smoothly. Stay informed and follow the action with precision.
| T- 00 : 38 : 00 | GO for Prop Load Launch director verifies go for propellant load |
| T- 00 : 35 : 00 | Stage 1 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the first stage |
| T- 00 : 35 : 00 | Prop Load Start of propelland loading |
| T- 00 : 16 : 00 | Stage 2 LOX Load Start of liquid oxygen loading in the second stage |
| T- 00 : 07 : 00 | Engine Chill Start of engine chilling |
| T- 00 : 01 : 00 | Startup The onboard computer takes control over the countdown and runs last checks |
| T- 00 : 01 : 00 | Tank Press Fuel tanks are pressurized to flight levels |
| T- 00 : 00 : 45 | GO for Launch Launch director verifies go for launch |
| T- 00 : 00 : 03 | Ignition Start of the engine ignition sequence |
| T+ 00 : 00 : 00 | Liftoff First upwards movement of the rocket |
| T+ 00 : 01 : 08 | Max-Q Maximum dynamic pressure |
| T+ 00 : 02 : 16 | MECO Cut-off of the main engine |
| T+ 00 : 02 : 20 | Stage 2 Separation Separation of the second stage from the first |
| T+ 00 : 02 : 28 | SES-1 First start of the second engine |
| T+ 00 : 02 : 33 | Booster Boostback Burn Startup Start of the booster boostback burn |
| T+ 00 : 03 : 00 | Fairing Separation Separation of the payload fairing |
| T+ 00 : 03 : 28 | Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown End of the booster boostback burn |
| T+ 00 : 06 : 13 | Entry Burn Startup Start of the atmospheric entry burn |
| T+ 00 : 06 : 32 | Entry Burn Shutdown End of the atmospheric entry burn |
| T+ 00 : 07 : 27 | Stage 1 Landing Burn Start of the first stage landing burn |
| T+ 00 : 07 : 54 | Stage 1 Landing Landing of the first stage |
| T+ 00 : 08 : 16 | SECO-1 First cut-off of the second engine |
| T+ 00 : 39 : 28 | SES-2 Second start of the second engine |
| T+ 00 : 40 : 10 | SECO-2 Second cut-off of the second engine |
| T+ 00 : 41 : 56 | Payload Separation Final deployment of the payload from the rocket |
| T+ 00 : 52 : 16 | Payload Separation Final deployment of the payload from the rocket |
| T+ 00 : 53 : 07 | Payload Separation Final deployment of the payload from the rocket |
Mission
SPHEREx & PUNCH
- Type: Astrophysics
- Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit
- Launch Cost: $52,000,000
SPHEREx is a planned two-year astrophysics mission to survey the sky in the near-infrared light, which, though not visible to the human eye, serves as a powerful tool for answering cosmic questions involving the birth of the universe, and the subsequent development of galaxies.
It also will search for water and organic molecules – essentials for life as we know it – in regions where stars are born from gas and dust, known as stellar nurseries, as well as disks around stars where new planets could be forming. Astronomers will use the mission to gather data on more than 300 million galaxies, as well as more than 100 million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.
NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will share a ride to space with SPHEREx. It consists of four suitcase-sized satellites, which will focus on the Sun’s outer atmosphere (the corona) and how it generates the solar wind. The spacecraft also will track coronal mass ejections – large eruptions of solar material that can drive large space weather events near Earth – to better understand their evolution and develop new techniques for predicting such eruptions.
Location
Space Launch Complex 4E
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Find the best place to watch the launch from Vandenberg
Space Launch Complex 4E has witnessed the launch of 184 rockets, including 184 orbital launch attempts. While Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, has been the site for 796 rocket launches.
Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
Rocket
SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5
Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.
Landing
Core B1088
The Falcon 9 booster B1088 has returned to the launch site at LZ-4 after its 3rd flight. Booster B1088 last launched 03/21/2025 and has seen 4 successful launches and landings. Falcon 9 booster.
A sonic boom is likely to occur a few minutes after launch as the booster returns to the launch site. Be prepared for a loud but thrilling experience! Learn more about rocket launch sonic booms
Landing Zone 4 - LZ-4
LZ at Vandenberg
Return to Launch Site - RTLS
A return to launch site usually means that after stage separation the booster flips and does a burn back towards the launch site, landing near where it initially launched from.
Agency
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
BEST OF LUCK SPACEX.!
We are going to watch from Venice Beach!!!
Should be a great view from SoCal
Is the launch still planned for March 2? It’s supposed to rain at the scheduled launch time.
The latest information is available on this web page. Check back for updates as the launch schedule changes often.
Imagine a website dedicated to airplanes flying overhead and all of us being amazed by their contrails…. My grandkids will think this is just a silly, thanks to Elon and SPACEX. Amazing times we live in, good luck!
There will be a thunderstorm during the scheduled launch time. Are they going to reschedule for Friday?
They will do their best to launch if the weather cooperates and will likely not make a decision until the last min.
Is the Falcon 9 lightning proof?
Why do they keep rescheduling the launch?
Zeno’s four suitcase-sized cameras and their images over two years is the purpose here. Not Space X.
Space X simply contributes launch energy as any rocket company could.
Congratulations to Zeno Power!
I thought you had your finger on the pulse, but the Sphere and Punch launch was scrubbed two hours prior but you didn’t stop your countdown. Disappointing.
The website was updated hours before the launch. The countdown will not update unless the web page is reloaded. Unfortunately browser and server caches and cause the website to look like it is not updated.
Those sonic bombs are destroying my home and destroying the foundation of my home, one of them cracked my downstairs toilet.
😟
Good luck for today, may everything go super well
Could be great show for SoCal. Keep watching the Sky🫨