PUNCH passes pre-ship review!

On 15 January, PUNCH passed a combined pre-shipment & operational readiness review, clearing us to ship the four spacecraft and necessary ground equipment from SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio, TX to to Vandenberg Space Force Base. There they will undergo final integration with the launch carrier, the SPHEREx spacecraft, and a Falcon 9 rocket. The PUNCH team's operational plans, tools, training, and personnel were found to be sufficient to operate and commission the constellation from the Mission Operations Center at SwRI’s offices in Boulder, Colorado. Congratulations to everyone on a hard-fought and hard-won I&T campaign!

Pictured: Workmen in SwRI’s clean high-bay spacecraft integration facility lowered one of the four PUNCH observatories, suspended inside its handling cage and double-bagged to prevent dust contamination, into a shipping container for transport to Vandenberg Space Force Base.