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.

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 key ingredient for life.

A new NASA observatory launched into space Tuesday on a mission that could help scientists unravel what happened in the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

The SPHEREx telescope will create the most colorful map of the cosmos, while the four satellites of the PUNCH mission track the evolution of the solar wind in three dimensions.

NASA and SpaceX successfully launched their SPHEREx and PUNCH missions into orbit Tuesday night from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, to "collect" data on the sun and millions of galaxies.

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.

After several delays, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA missions out of Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket carried two projects: the SPHEREx and PUNCH missions.

NASA will launch the SPHEREx telescope to uncover the ingredients for life in our galaxy, as well as the PUNCH mission to study the sun’s mysteries.