Category: PREFIRE

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.

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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.

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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.

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Launch Date Set for NASA’s PREFIRE Mission to Study Polar Energy Loss

The PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission will send two CubeSats – shown as an artist’s concept against an image of Earth from orbit – into space to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions, including the Arctic and Antarctica. Photo credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, May 22, 2024, for the first of two launches of the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission to study heat loss to space in Earth’s polar regions. For the PREFIRE mission, two CubeSats will launch on two different flights aboard the company’s Electron rockets from Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. Each launch will carry one satellite.   

NASA’s PREFIRE mission will fill a gap in our understanding of how much of Earth’s heat is lost to space from the polar regions. By capturing measurements over the poles that can only be gathered from space, PREFIRE will enable researchers to systematically study the planet’s heat emissions in the far-infrared – with ten times finer wavelength resolution than any previous sensor.  

The Arctic and Antarctic help regulate Earth’s climate by radiating heat initially absorbed at the tropics back into space. But for regions like the Arctic, the spectrum of 60% of the energy escaping to space hasn’t been systematically measured. Filling in this picture is important for understanding which parts of the polar environment are responsible for heat loss and why the Arctic has warmed more than 2.5 times faster than the rest of the planet. In addition to helping us understand how the poles serve as Earth’s thermostat, PREFIRE observations of this heat exchange can improve our understanding of the mechanisms of polar ice loss and related questions of sea level rise and sea ice loss.  

The instruments will fly on two identical CubeSats – one instrument per CubeSat – in asynchronous, near-polar orbits. 

NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison jointly developed the PREFIRE mission. The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Southern California, manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and provided the spectrometers. Blue Canyon Technologies built the CubeSats, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will process the collected data. 

The launch, which Rocket Lab named “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,” will be followed by a second CubeSat mission launch several weeks later.. The second launch, which the company calls “PREFIRE and Ice,” will also lift off from New Zealand on an Electron rocket. NASA’s Launch Services Program selected Rocket Lab to launch both spacecraft as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.  

Follow launch updates on NASA’s Small Satellite Missions blog.

To learn more about the PREFIRE mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/prefire/