Skip to main content

Rocket Lab to launch a pair of climate satellites for NASA

Rocket Lab will launch two small satellites for NASA that could help scientists better understand how a warming climate will affect the massive ice shelves at the Earth’s poles.

The PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission will gather data on how much far-infrared energy is emitted at the poles, and how those emissions change throughout the day and year. Far-infrared is a poorly understood portion of the Earth’s energy spectrum, though nearly 60% of Arctic emissions occur at these wavelengths.

The two satellites, each the size of a bread loaf, will be equipped with a miniaturized instrument called a thermal IR spectrometer. Scientists will be able to compare the data to conditions in cloud cover and sea ice levels below, and hopefully generate more accurate climate models into the future.

Across two launches scheduled for May 2024, Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket to carry the two cubesats to near-polar orbits, where they’ll collect data for at least 10 months. The launches will take place from Rocket Lab’s launch site on Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, and will likely occur in rapid succession due to the specific requirements of the mission. Meeting such requirements “is made possible by Electron’s unique ability to deploy dedicated small satellite missions on highly responsive timelines,” the company said in a statement.

NASA awarded the launch contract as part of its Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program, a massive contract vehicle that has a budget of $300 million across five years to put NASA payloads on commercial rockets.

These launches will be the 7th and 8th the company has conducted on behalf of NASA since 2018. Earlier this year, Rocket Lab successfully placed four of the space agency’s storm-watching satellites into orbit. Those launches were also awarded under the VADR program.

The exact value of the launch contract was not disclosed by Rocket Lab or NASA. TechCrunch has inquired into the value and will update the story if they respond.



source https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/14/rocket-lab-to-launch-a-pair-of-climate-satellites-for-nasa/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Silent Revolution of On-Device AI: Why the Cloud Is No Longer King

Introduction For years, artificial intelligence has meant one thing: the cloud. Whether you’re asking ChatGPT a question, editing a photo with AI tools, or getting recommendations on Netflix — those decisions happen on distant servers, not your device. But that’s changing. Thanks to major advances in silicon, model compression, and memory architecture, AI is quietly migrating from giant data centres to the palm of your hand. Your phone, your laptop, your smartwatch — all are becoming AI engines in their own right. It’s a shift that redefines not just how AI works, but who controls it, how private it is, and what it can do for you. This article explores the rise of on-device AI — how it works, why it matters, and why the cloud’s days as the centre of the AI universe might be numbered. What Is On-Device AI? On-device AI refers to machine learning models that run locally on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, or edge device — without needing constant access to the cloud. In practi...
1 comment
Read more

Apple’s AI Push: Everything We Know About Apple Intelligence So Far

Apple’s WWDC 2025 confirmed what many suspected: Apple is finally making a serious leap into artificial intelligence. Dubbed “Apple Intelligence,” the suite of AI-powered tools, enhancements, and integrations marks the company’s biggest software evolution in a decade. But unlike competitors racing to plug AI into everything, Apple is taking a slower, more deliberate approach — one rooted in privacy, on-device processing, and ecosystem synergy. If you’re wondering what Apple Intelligence actually is, how it works, and what it means for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you’re in the right place. This article breaks it all down.   What Is Apple Intelligence? Let’s get the terminology clear first. Apple Intelligence isn’t a product — it’s a platform. It’s not just a chatbot. It’s a system-wide integration of generative AI, machine learning, and personal context awareness, embedded across Apple’s OS platforms. Think of it as a foundational AI layer stitched into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Billionaire clothing dynasty heiress launches Everybody & Everyone to make fashion sustainable

Veronica Chou’s family has made its fortune at the forefront of the fast fashion business through investments in companies like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger . But now, the heiress to an estimated $2.1 billion fortune is launching her own company, Everybody & Everyone , to prove that the fashion industry can be both environmentally sustainable and profitable. There’s no argument about the negative impacts of the fashion industry on the environment. The textiles industry primarily uses non-renewable resources — on the order of 98 million tons per year. That includes the oil to make synthetic fibers, fertilizers to grow cotton, and toxic chemicals to dye, treat, and produce the textiles used to make clothes. The greenhouse gas footprint from textiles production was roughly 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in 2015 — more than all international flights and maritime shipments combined (and a lot of those maritime shipments and international flights were hauling clothes). The lit...
Post a Comment
Read more