The "eyes of WISE," four infrared focal plane assemblies (FPAs), have completed testing at the suppliers DRS and Teledyne Instrument Systems, and have been delivered to the builder of the WISE Payload, Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory. These "megapixel" FPAs make it possible for WISE to achieve 500 to 500,000 times better sensitivity than previous all sky surveys at these wavelengths.

NASA has approved construction of the launch vehicle which will lift WISE into orbit over the Earth's poles. WISE will be launched on a Delta 7320 rocket from the Vandenberg Air Force Base on California's central coast in November, 2009. The WISE Delta will be built and launched by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corporations.

The WISE project has successfully completed its Mission Critical Design Review (CDR). The CDR is an important milestone in the development of the WISE project. It marks the formal completion of design work and the transition to construction and test of the WISE flight and ground systems.