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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System has now connected with ground operators following its April 23 launch aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The satellite is on its way to testing next-generation solar sail technology, which uses the power of sunlight to propel a spacecraft. The results from this mission will advance future space travel to …
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 …
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is confirmed to have deployed from Rocket Lab’s Electron kick stage. The satellite has reached low Earth orbit to begin its mission to test next-generation technology that uses the power of sunlight as propulsion. Next, the solar sail satellite will power up and attempt initial contact with the ground; …
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Mission is on its way! The spacecraft has lifted off from the launch pad aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The microwave oven-sized satellite is on its way to low Earth orbit to test its next-generation solar sail technology, using the power of sunlight as propulsion. Rocket Lab is providing …
