Tense, public squabbles between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and NASA have stirred the space industry, but behind the scenes, space science has continued business as (almost) normal.

As the agency's SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar mission rode toward their orbital stations at 10:09 p.m. EST (0209 March 9 GMT), members of mission control appeared elated, onlookers who caught a peek at the liftoff cheered, and the scientists who built these missions exuded a blend of relief and excitement.

The $488 million Spherex mission aims to explain how galaxies formed and evolved over billions of years, and how the universe expanded so fast in its first moments.

Launching on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SPHEREx will map 450 million galaxies and could help unravel what happened after the Big Bang, while PUNCH will make observations of the sun’s outer atmosphere and learn how the mass and energy there become solar wind.

A semi-frontal view of the SPHEREx observatory is seen during integration and testing at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, U.S., in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on February 24, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY (Reuters) - A NASA telescope was launched into space from California on Tuesday for a mission to explore the origins of the universe and to scour the Milky Way galaxy for hidden reservoirs of water,

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two NASA science probes on March 11, 2025 in a spectacular nighttime liftoff from California after multiple delays.

NASA and SpaceX late Monday said they were standing down the launch of the SPHEREx and PUNCH spacecraft missions due to unfavorable weather at the launch site and an issue with one of the spacecrafts.