SOFIA is a joint program by NASA and the German Aerospace Center.

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) its a astronomy observatory flight means its a highly modified SOFIA Boeing 747SP jetliner fitted with a 100-inch diameter reflecting telescope and SOFIA combines the effectiveness of satellite-based telescopes with the relatively easy maintenance of ground-based observatories and preliminary examination of the first light data taken by SOFIA shows that the images are in fact sharp enough to enable cutting-edge astronomy .SOFIA will enable a wide variety of astronomical science observations not possible from other Earth and space-borne observatories