NASA's PUNCH mission has successfully completed its spacecraft commissioning, capturing its first images of the Sun's outer atmosphere and surrounding space in mid-April 2025.

PUNCH aims to provide new insights into the solar atmosphere and its interactions within the solar system.

The mission will conduct global, 3D observations of the solar wind and coronal mass ejections, phenomena that can significantly impact space weather and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

Scientists will calibrate the captured images to minimize light interference from the corona, which will enhance their ability to track solar material as it flows outward into space.

Once fully operational, PUNCH will deliver unprecedented imagery of the solar wind and coronal mass ejections in polarized light, further enhancing our understanding of these phenomena.

The mission is led by the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, with operations conducted from Boulder, Colorado, and managed by NASA's Explorers Program Office in Maryland.

The mission's Narrow Field Imager (NFI) and three Wide Field Imagers (WFIs) have opened their instrument doors, with the NFI capturing detailed images of star fields alongside the Sun, while the WFIs provide a broader view featuring labeled constellations.

The planned alignment of the four satellites will create a comprehensive view of the solar corona and its effects on Earth.