Just under three weeks after Rocket Lab launched the “Rocket Like a Hurricane” mission placing two time-resolved observations of precipitation structure and storm intensity with a constellation of smallsats (TROPICS) satellites for NASA into low Earth orbit, the company launched its Electron rocket on the “Coming to a Storm Near You” mission on Friday.
Launching from Launch Complex 1B (LC-1B) on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand, this placed the final batch of TROPICS satellites into orbit.