Rocket Lab Launches 'Rocket like a Hurricane' Mission: First of Two TROPICS CubeSat Deployments for NASA
The first of two launches to deploy tropical cyclone-monitoring satellites for NASA was successfully completed by Rocket Lab.
Dubbed "Rocket like a Hurricane," the launch carried two of the four CubeSats that make up the TROPICS constellation.
The formation and evolution of tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, will be monitored by TROPICS, providing updated observations of storm intensity.
The Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket took off from Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9 p.m. ET on May 7 for the "Rocket like a Hurricane Mission."
Designed to monitor the development of tropical storms, the TROPICS CubeSats were placed into a 550-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 32 degrees.
Part of NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, the TROPICS constellation requires precision to ensure each pair of CubeSats reaches specific, unique orbits over Earth’s tropics.
Six times faster than most current weather tracking systems, the satellite will travel over any given storm about once an hour.
All four TROPICS satellites must reach operational orbit within 60 days of each other.
Dubbed "Coming to a Storm Near You," the second launch is expected to launch in approximately 2 weeks.
MORE
STORIES