Month: May 2024

Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket Go for Launch!

Rocket Lab’s “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” – the first of two launches of NASA’s PREFIRE mission – is just minutes away from launch. After holding at T-12 for several minutes the countdown has resumed.

The CubeSat is set to launch from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia, New Zealand, aboard the company’s Electron rocket, which is a reusable, vertically launched, two-stage rocket that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. Propellant loading has begun, and the mission team has called out “go for launch.” The rocket should launch in about five minutes.

Each Electron rocket is around 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with an exterior made of a carbon fiber composite, and can carry payloads weighing up to about 700 pounds (320 kilograms). Each Electron rocket uses nine Rutherford sea-level engines on its first stage, and a single Rutherford vacuum engine on its second stage. These 3D-printed engines use an electric turbopump powered by batteries to deliver propellants and fuel to the engines. A payload fairing protects the spacecraft or satellite as the rocket climbs through the atmosphere. An extra stage, called a kick stage, powered by a single Curie engine, will circularize the orbits of the PREFIRE CubeSats.

Previous NASA missions that launched on an Electron rocket include NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats), Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), and multiple Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) missions.

Some of the launch team members are located within Rocket Lab’s private range control facilities at Launch Complex 1, located on the North Island of New Zealand. From the launch site it is possible to reach orbital inclinations from sun-synchronous through to 30 degrees, enabling versatility for missions to low Earth orbit. The bulk of the Electron operators, as well as NASA’s Launch Services Program team and spacecraft customer team will be on console at the Auckland Production Complex.

Mission Facts About NASA’s PREFIRE

Night shot of Rocket Lab payload fairing with NASA logo and PREFIRE mission name painted on it.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket named “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” is ready for launch from Mahia, New Zealand on May 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Rocket Lab

This is the first of two launches on Rocket Lab Electron rockets to deploy NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission.

Rocket Lab has named today’s launch “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE.” The second PREFIRE launch of a second identical CubeSat is named “PREFIRE and Ice” and will launch within three weeks.

Both PREFIRE CubeSats are scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand.

The PREFIRE satellites are identical in size – 6U CubeSats. The standard CubeSat size – “one unit” or “1U” – measures about four inches cubed and is extendable to larger sizes like the 6U PREFIRE.

The mission is tasked with measuring heat loss from both the Arctic and Antarctica. When in space, both PREFIRE satellites will be in near-polar orbits and provide multiple observations of Arctic and Antarctic surfaces and clouds each day, helping researchers better understand Earth’s energy budget.

Once operating, PREFIRE will make the first full spectral measurements of far infrared radiation, revealing the full spectrum of Arctic radiant energy and quantifying spatial and temporal variability in spectral FIR emission and the atmospheric greenhouse effect.

NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the launch service. The mission’s principal investigator is Tristan L’Ecuyer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the mission’s project scientist is Brian Drouin of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) provides a broad range of FAA-licensed commercial launch services capable of delivering payloads including CubeSats and Class D missions that can tolerate relatively high risk to a variety of orbits.

NASA’s PREFIRE Mission: Launch Broadcast Now Underway

a close up of Rocket Lab's payload fairing while it sits on the launch pad. Painted on it our the NASA logo and the PREFIRE mission name.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket called “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” is on the launch pad on May 25, 2024 with the first CubeSat ready to lift off from the company’s facility in Mahia, New Zealand. Photo Credit: Rocket Lab

Live coverage is underway for the first of two launches of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission. Rocket Lab is targeting 7:28 p.m. NZST (3:28 a.m. EDT Saturday, May 25) for “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,” the launch of the company’s Electron rocket that will send the CubeSat to low Earth orbit.

Watch Rocket Lab’s launch broadcast on the company’s website.

NASA’s PREFIRE Mission: Weather 70% Favorable for Today’s Launch

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket is erect on the launch pad on the coast of Mahia, New Zealand. The sky is blue and the sea is calm on the horizon behind the pad.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket called “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” is vertical on the pad in Mahia, New Zealand ahead of launching the first of two PREFIRE CubeSats on May 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Rocket Lab

Weather officials with Rocket Lab predict a 70% percent chance of favorable weather for today’s launch of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission.

Storm conditions have cleared, leaving intervals of clouds and sunshine. Winds are out of the west at 5 to 10 mph.

The mission consists of two, identical 6U CubeSats, launching on separate rockets, on a mission of at least 10 months that will enable researchers to systematically study from space the planet’s heat emissions in the far-infrared – with 10 times finer wavelength resolution than any previous sensor.

NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison jointly developed the PREFIRE mission. The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and provides the instruments. Blue Canyon Technologies built the CubeSats, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will process the data collected by the instruments. The science team includes members from JPL and the Universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Colorado.

The launch is part of NASA’s VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract, with Rocket Lab selected by the agency’s Launch Services Program to launch both spacecraft. NASA’s VADR approach supports the launch of more risk tolerant science payloads at lower cost.

Follow updates on NASA’s small satellite missions blog.

X: @NASA_LSP, @NASAEarth, @NASAKennedy, @NASA, @RocketLab, @NASAJPL
Facebook: NASA, NASA LSP, @NASAJPL, RocketLabUSA
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAEarth, @NASAJPL, @RocketLabUSA

NASA’s PREFIRE Mission: Launch Coverage Underway

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket is erect on the launch pad.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket named “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE” is on the launch pad in Mahia, New Zealand ahead of launching the first PREFIRE CubeSat on May 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Rocket Lab

Launch day is here for the first of two launches of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission. Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, is providing the launch service.

A small satellite – a CubeSat, about the size of a shoebox – waits on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket for liftoff from Launch Complex-1 in Māhia, New Zealand. Launch is targeted for 7:28 p.m. NZST Saturday, May 25 (3:28 a.m. EDT). Back-up opportunities are available throughout May and into June should the launch date need to be updated for any reason.

The mission will send two CubeSats to asynchronous, near-polar orbits, and help to close a gap in our understanding of how much of Earth’s heat is lost to space from the Arctic and Antarctica. Analysis of PREFIRE measurements will inform climate and ice models, providing better projections of how a warming world will affect sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise.

The first CubeSat launch, which Rocket Lab named “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,” will be followed by the second CubeSat launch, named “PREFIRE and Ice,” scheduled to lift off in the coming weeks from New Zealand on an Electron rocket.

NASA’s Launch Services Program selected Rocket Lab to launch the mission as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract. Missions launched through VADR help foster growth in the commercial launch market while lowering the cost of access to space for science and technology research.

Follow launch updates on NASA’s small satellite missions blog and stay connected with the mission on social media.

X: @NASA_LSP, @NASAEarth, @NASAKennedy, @NASA, @RocketLab, @NASAJPL
Facebook: NASA, NASA LSP, @NASAJPL, RocketLabUSA
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAEarth, @NASAJPL, @RocketLabUSA

Stormy Weather Delays First NASA PREFIRE Launch

NASA and Rocket Lab are now targeting no earlier than Saturday, May 25, for the launch of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The team is standing down while a severe weather system moves across the launch site over the coming days.

The mission will send two CubeSats, small research satellites, to asynchronous, near-polar orbits to study how much of Earth’s heat is lost to space from the Arctic and Antarctica. A second launch will be scheduled after the completion of the first CubeSat launch.

Watch for updates on NASA’s Small Satellite Missions blog and stay connected with the mission on social media.

X: @NASA_LSP, @NASAEarth, @NASAKennedy, @NASA, @RocketLab, @NASAJPL
Facebook: NASA, NASA LSP, @NASAJPL, RocketLabUSA
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAEarth, @NASAJPL, @RocketLabUSA