Rocket Lab launches hurricane-tracking satellites for NASA
Gizem Gecim
Rocket Lab USA Inc. (NASDAQ:RKLB) successfully completed the first of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy a constellation of tropical cyclone monitoring satellites for NASA.
The space launch company's 'Rocket Like a Hurricane' launch lifted-off on May 8 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula deploying two of the four CubeSats that comprise the TROPICS constellation.
TROPICS will monitor the formation and evolution of tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, and will provide rapidly updating observations of storm intensity.
The constellation, which is part of NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program, requires launch to 550 kilometers altitude and inclination of about 30 degrees. Each pair of CubeSats must be launched to two specific orbital planes that are equally spaced 180 degrees opposite to maximize the temporal resolution. The unique orbits over Earth’s tropics are noted to allow the satellites to travel over any given storm about once an hour compared with current weather tracking satellites that have a timing of about once every six hours.
“The TROPICS constellation has the real potential to save lives by providing more timely data about storm intensity and providing advance warning to those in storm paths, so it’s an immense privilege to have deployed these spacecraft to their precise orbits before the upcoming storm season,” said Rocket Lab founder/CEO Peter Beck.
'Rocket Like a Hurricane' was Rocket Lab’s (RKLB) fourth mission for 2023 and the company’s 36th Electron mission overall. It brings the total number of satellites launched to orbit by Rocket Lab to 161.
Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) rallied 2.15% in Monday morning trading.