The last pair of NASA’s TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) are in orbit after a successful launch at 23:46 our time. TROPICS launched aboard an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 Pad B in Māhia, New Zealand. The small satellites were deployed on May 26 at 12:20 p.m. EDT. The signal for the first CubeSat was acquired at 1:16 a.m. EDT and at 2:19 a.m. for the second.
Through this mission, NASA will study tropical cyclones and aims to improve hurricane and typhoon forecasting.
“As a lifelong Floridian, I know firsthand how important it is for millions of Americans to have timely and accurate hurricane forecasts. More intense rainfall and increased coastal flooding are destroying livelihoods and taking lives, demonstrating the importance of NASA’s cutting-edge science helping to answer questions no one else can,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“With missions like TROPICS, NASA continues to lead the way in getting satellite data faster to our partners like the National Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, providing critical forecasts that help our communities before, during and after landfall.”
This launch follows Tropics’ previous successful launch of two other small satellites earlier this month.
“As we enter the 2023 hurricane season, TROPICS will be able to provide unprecedented detail about these storms, helping us better understand how they form, intensify and move across the ocean,” said Karen St. Germain, head of NASA Earth. Science Division. “We rely on focused, innovative missions like this one to help build a robust Earth science portfolio.”
TROPICS is a constellation of four identical CubeSats designed to observe tropical cyclones in a unique, inclined low-Earth orbit above the Earth’s tropics an orbit that allows them to travel over a given storm about once an hour. Current weather satellites have a timing of approximately once every six hours.
“We are very pleased to have launched four satellites.” We expect the new observational capabilities from TROPICS to improve our understanding of tropical cyclones and our ability to predict their track and intensity,” said William Blackwell, the mission’s principal investigator at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts.
In addition to Blackwell, the TROPICS team includes researchers from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and several universities and commercial partners. The launch service is managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
