Rocket Lab to Launch NASA Climate Change Research Mission in 2024

Rocket Lab has signed a contract with NASA for the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment mission.

Under the agreement, Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket to deliver to low Earth orbit two PREFIRE satellites from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand in 2024. The agreement will involve two launches to be carried out in quick succession, as per the mission’s requirements, Rocket Lab said.

The PREFIRE mission will use two 6U cube satellites carrying a miniature infrared spectrometer to document spectral flux changes from the five-to-45-micrometer spectrum. The CubeSats will provide measurements that would allow scientists to create climate and ice models, project how global warming is affecting ice sheet melt and sea level rise and improve weather prediction capabilities.

The CubeSats will operate in a near-polar orbit, measuring variations in far-IR emissivity and greenhouse effect through thermal radiometric sampling at the Earth’s polar regions.

PREFIRE is a collaborative effort involving the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Colorado Boulder.