New generation of hurricane-tracking satellites launch

The first in a series of new miniature satellites intended to track hurricanes and other tropical weather launched into orbit Sunday night.

For the mission, NASA contracted with Rocket Lab, which launched the first pair of new satellites from New Zealand.

The mission is called TROPICS, which stands for Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats.

The satellites, which are about the size of shoeboxes, are much smaller than traditional weather satellites. Once fully launched, the fleet of small satellites (sometimes called cubesats) will fly together in a synchronized formation, which is similar to how SpaceX's Internet-providing Starlink satellites work. The flight pattern allows meteorologists and scientists to see a series of rapidly-captured images over a storm.

[mr.pizzamarlon]

*How many rockets are launched on a daily basis* all around the globe? And we wonder why the air we we breathe is so contaminated. 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀🌎🔥🔥🔥🔥 _This world will soon end_ but a better world is near. All human governments will soon be replaced. Christ and his 144, 000 kings will rule over earth. (Revelation 5:10) 👑 👑 👑 👑