Advances in sensor technologies continue to improve the capabilities of passive remote sensing systems to image and characterize the world around us, and in smaller size/weight/power/cost (SWaP-C) envelopes that bring these capabilities to new platforms. In this talk, I will discuss SPHEREx and CubeSounder, two new sensor systems in development at ASU. SPHEREx is a NASA infrared satellite with a wide range of key science goals, including precision mapping of the three-dimensional distribution of galaxies to probe the physics of cosmic inflation. At ASU I am leading a team developing an optimal scheduling system that enables SPHEREx to survey the entire sky while efficiently operating within the challenging operational constraints of LEO. The mission is on track for launch in 2025 with over two years of on-orbit operations in the nominal mission.

I will also discuss CubeSounder, an ASU-lead NASA microwave sounding mission being developed to fly on a high-altitude balloon to image water vapor and temperature in the atmosphere for weather prediction. Data from similar legacy sensors on large US weather satellites is currently the single highest impact driver of global weather forecast accuracy. Our novel waveguide spectrometer technology developed at ASU enables this system to fit in a ~10x smaller SWaP-C envelope, letting us bring this capability to the high-altitude balloon platform for the first time. We have completed four flights with World View in our test program, maturing the technology to TRL6 and paving the way for future deployment of the system.