Astra Prepares to Launch NASA's TROPICS Mission

Astra Prepares to Launch NASA's TROPICS Mission

The NASA TROPICS mission consists of a constellation of six small satellites that will observe tropical cyclones, aiming to improve the scientific community’s understanding of these dangerous weather events. Current launch window opens June 12, 2022, at 12pm ET. The launch site is Space Launch Complex 46 (SLC-46) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Cape Canaveral, in Florida. 

Launch Vehicle: Rocket 3.3

Target Orbital Inclination: 29.75 degrees

Target Altitude: 550 kilometers

Payload: 2x TROPICS 3U CubeSats

The NASA Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission is a constellation of state-of-the-science observing platforms that will measure temperature and humidity soundings and precipitation with spatial resolution comparable to current operational passive microwave sounders but with unprecedented temporal resolution (median revisit time of 50 minutes). Each SmallSat hosts a 12-channel passive microwave spectrometer. The primary mission objective of TROPICS is to relate temperature, humidity, and precipitation structure to the evolution of tropical cyclone intensity. 

Learn more at:

astra.com/missions/tropics-1

https://tropics.ll.mit.edu/CMS/tropics/Mission-Overview

Credit: Astra

Release Date: June 8, 2022

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