Jamie Bennet
Rocket Lab is on track to launch the second and final pair of storm monitoring nanosatellites for NASA.
The company said Monday it is targeting May 22 as the deployment date for the last two CubeSats under the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats program.
The first half of the TROPICS satellite constellation was launched on May 8 through the partnership of Rocket Lab with Kongsberg Satellite Services, Blue Canyon Technologies and MIT Lincoln Labs.
The communication systems will observe and monitor the formation, evolution and intensity of hurricanes and tropical cyclones. The goal is to boost the understanding, modeling, prediction and advanced warning of high-impact storms.
Rocket Lab has 60 days to launch all four CubeSats into their operational orbit at the altitude of 550 kilometers and inclination of approximately 30 degrees.
