Rocket lab has successfully launched world first space junk mission. Video / Supplied
Rocket Lab has announced plans for its next mission, which will focus on measuring the heat lost from Earth’s polar regions in order to study climate change.
The mission will involve the deployment of two satellites to a 525km circular orbit.
The first mission, called ‘Ready, Aim, PREFIRE’, is scheduled to launch by Rocket Lab on or after May 22.
Ready, Aim, PREFIRE 🚀 Next up on Electron will be the first of two launches for @NASA's PREFIRE mission, a climate change focused mission to measure the heat lost from the Arctic and Antarctica.
“The launch date for the second mission, named ‘PREFIRE And Ice’, will be determined within three weeks of the successful deployment of the first mission,” a Rocket Lab spokeswoman said.
These missions will mark Rocket Lab’s 48th and 49th Electron launches overall, as well as its sixth and seventh launches of 2024.
“The PREFIRE mission, in collaboration with NASA, aims to systematically measure the heat, specifically infrared and far-infrared wavelengths, lost from Earth’s polar regions,” she said.
“By collecting this data, scientists hope to improve climate models and enhance predictions of changes caused by global warming.
“The PREFIRE mission will involve the use of two 6U CubeSats and is expected to have a mission length of 10 months.
A rocket launches from Rocket Lab's base on the the Mahia Peninsula in August. Photo / Rocket Lab
“Understanding the heat dynamics in the Arctic and Antarctica is crucial for studying and predicting weather outcomes such as extreme storms, flooding, and coastal erosion, which are influenced by climate conditions in these regions.”
Rocket Lab mission NROL-123 'Live and Let Fly' launch from Launch Complex 2 in Wallops, Virginia in March 2024. Photo / Rocket Lab
The Kiwi-American firm’s shares jumped 4.5 per cent to US$3.91 (NZ$6.64) on the news but still languish well below their 2021 listing price of US$10 ($NZ17)
Rocket Lab was one of two firms awarded Victus Haze work. The other was the Colorado-based True Anomaly, a military “spacecraft and AI” business and the maker of the “Jackel” satellite designed to inspect potential security risks in orbit. True Anomaly was awarded work worth US$30m ($51m).
Rocket Lab and True Anomaly will both work on a “hot-standby” system that will ultimately be able to deploy a satellite to inspect a potential space threat within 24 hours.
