10/05/2023
Watch NASA and Rocket Lab launch two CubeSats into orbit for the TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) mission. Launch is targeted at 9 p.m. EDT April 30, 2023, (0100 UTC Monday, May 1) at the opening of a two-hour launch window from Launch Complex 1 Pad B in Māhia, New Zealand. TROPICS is a constellation of four identical CubeSats designed to observe tropical cyclones from low Earth orbit, making observations more frequently than current weather tracking satellites.