Planck's objective is to analyze, with the highest accuracy ever achieved, the remnants of the radiation that filled the Universe immediately after the Big Bang, which we observe today as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The US Planck Data Center is located at IPAC, and IPAC generated the Early Release Compact Source Catalog (ERCSC), the first public data product from the mission.

The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF), the infrared component of NASA's series of Great Observatories, was launched on August 25, 2003. The Spitzer Science Center is located within IPAC, and the Spitzer Heritage Archive is hosted by IRSA.

The Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is the top-ranked large space mission from the Astro2010 Decadal Survey. NASA is conducting a formulation phase study of a design reference mission that would be capable of addressing essential questions in the areas of exoplanets, dark energy, and infrared astrophysics.