The SpectroPhotometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) is a NASA medium-class astrophysics mission launched in March 2025. SPHEREx is conducting the first NIR all-sky spectroscopic survey, obtaining spectra from 0.75 to 5 μm with resolving power R ≈ 40 to 130 across the entire sky. The instrument uses linear variable filters mounted directly over six H2RG detector arrays, enabling a spectrum to be measured at every 6.15” pixel on the sky. The mission is designed to address three primary science goals: constraining models of inflation through measurements of large-scale structure, measuring the extragalactic background light through intensity mapping of galaxies, and conducting a spectral survey of the Milky Way to study water and other biogenic ices. Since the start of survey operations in May 2025, SPHEREx completed its first full-sky spectroscopic map in December 2025 and is now accumulating multiple sky coverages. In this talk, I will present an overview of the instrument design, survey strategy, and current mission status, and show early results from the survey.
