Tag: Earth Science
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Loft Orbital and NASA JPL Partner to Demonstrate AI Software in Orbit
Loft Orbital has entered into an agreement with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to host and operate artificial intelligence software demonstrations in orbit as part of a NASA-funded Earth science technology program. The collaboration supports the Federated Autonomous MEasurement (FAME) project, which is funded by NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) and focuses on advancing…
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NASA EAGLE and FALCON Missions Target Commercial Earth Science
How Will NASA’s New Earth Science Missions Use Commercial Partners? NASA announced two Earth science mission concepts—EAGLE and FALCON—that will rely on commercial satellite platforms and Artemis Program exploration infrastructure to advance climate research while reducing development costs. The missions, unveiled during NASA’s March 24 “Ignition” event, represent a strategic shift toward leveraging existing commercial…
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NASA’s final two TROPICS CubeSats launched by Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from Launch Complex 1B in New Zealand with NASA’s fifth and sixth TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab The last two spacecraft in a four-satellite constellation of tropical cyclone research platforms took off late Thursday from New Zealand on a Rocket Lab Electron launcher, helping ensure NASA’s TROPICS…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches NASA’s final two TROPICS satellites
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand with the final pair of NASA’s TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 20 minutes prior to launch, and will be…
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Electron rocket launches pair of cyclone-tracking CubeSats for NASA
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off with two of NASA’s TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Rocket Lab The first pair of four NASA CubeSats designed to provide frequent updates of typhoon and hurricane development for new insights into how tropical storms evolve and intensify were launched by Rocket Lab from its New Zealand spaceport on…
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Twin TROPICS satellites set to be lofted into orbit
Artist’s illustration of a TROPICS CubeSat in space. Credit: NASA Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s second pair of TROPICS hurricane research satellites, reassigned from Astra following a launch failure last year, has been rescheduled for Sunday (U.S. time) after a delay due to unfavorable weather at the the company’s New Zealand spaceport. Originally planned as…
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NASA satellite ends 17-year mission measuring the sun’s impact on climate
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13 to include mention of the University of Colorado’s role in the mission. The SORCE spacecraft undergoes preparations for launch. Credit: NASA NASA has shut down a spacecraft that measured the amount of solar energy entering Earth’s atmosphere for 17 years, more than three times the mission’s original design life. The Solar Radiation…
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SpaceX selected to launch Intelsat telecom satellite, NASA pollution monitor
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station before a launch in 2018. Credit: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch an Intelsat communications satellite with a NASA-funded air pollution monitor to be positioned over the Americas in 2022, officials announced Tuesday. The Falcon 9 will take off…
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Falcon 9 rocket completes static fire test, aims for launch early Wednesday
A plume of exhaust appears at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) Saturday as the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin main engines ignite for a hold-down test-firing. Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now A week after a test-firing of SpaceX’s new crew capsule went awry, SpaceX successfully completed a hold-down firing…
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Carbon-monitoring instrument poised for launch to International Space Station
An astronaut on the International Space Station captured this image of the Florida peninsula April 20. Credit: NASA A $110 million NASA science instrument twice targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration is set for launch Tuesday inside the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for delivery to the International Space Station, where it…