Jane Edwards
A NASA satellite system designed to collect weather data for use in tropical cyclone forecasting lifted off Thursday aboard the Orbital ATK-built Pegasus rocket.
Pegasus carried the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System into low-Earth orbit after the rocket was deployed at approximately 39,000 feet from Orbital ATK’s Stargazer L-1011 carrier aircraft that took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, Orbital ATK said Thursday.
CYGNSS is a constellation of eight small satellites that will work to help meteorologists gather measurements from space in order to monitor the intensity of cyclones and is part of the space agency’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Mission.
Pegasus is a category 3 certified rocket under NASA’s Launch Services program.
The launch marks the 43rd flight of Orbital ATK’s air-launched platform and the rocket’s first time to take off from Cape Canaveral in 12 years.
Orbital ATK produced the rocket’s solid rocket motors, avionics and control systems and composite structures through its facilities in Arizona, Virginia, California and Utah.
