Weather 40% Favorable for Today’s Launch at Start of Launch Window

Astra Rocket 3 with TROPICS 1 payload
Astra’s Rocket 3, with NASA’s TROPICS CubeSats, is shown on June 1, 2022, at Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, in preparation for a June 12, 2022, launch.

Weather officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions at noon, the start of today’s launch window, with the forecast dropping to 10 percent favorable later in the afternoon.

The primary weather concern at the start of the launch window is a Cumulus Cloud Rule violation. Later in the launch window, concerns include Surface Electric Fields and Lightning rules.

TROPICS mission aims to improve observations of tropical cyclones. Six TROPICS satellites will work in concert to provide microwave observations of a storm’s precipitation, temperature, and humidity as often as every 50 minutes.