PREFIRE And Ice
Just a week after the first PREFIRE spacecraft were launched, it’s time for part two!
| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2024-06-05 03:00 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (NZST) | 2024-06-05 15:00 |
| Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1B, Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand |
| Booster recovery | No |
| Launch vehicle | Electron + Curie |
| Customers | NASA |
| Payloads | PREFIRE |
| Mission success criteria | Successful deployment of spacecraft into Sun-Synchronous Orbit |
Livestreams
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| Rocket Lab (official) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBBhzkNzcYQ (scrub) |
| Everyday Astronaut | |
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyw7FyMzsgI (scrub) |
| The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFygbJ4BiSs |
Stats
- This will be the 7th launch for Rocket Lab this year.
- This will be the 49th overall launch for Rocket Lab.
Payload info:
The PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission will send two CubeSats into space to study how much heat the planet absorbs and emits from its polar regions, including the Arctic and Antarctica.
Analysis of PREFIRE measurements will inform climate and ice models, providing better projections of how a warming world will affect sea ice loss, ice sheet melt, and sea level rise. Improving climate models can ultimately help to provide more accurate projections on the impacts of storm severity and frequency, as well as coastal erosion and flooding.
Previous mission (Ready, Aim, PREFIRE) | Next mission (No Time Toulouse)
Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here! Also feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for the mod team. We’re a relatively new community, so feedback is very valuable!
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Curie engine circularization burn confirmed.
Rocket Lab webcast is live! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKV9Nf6oVJI
Hold called at T-4 minutes and 45 seconds. Reason for the hold unclear.
Edit: Countdown clock will reset to T-12 minutes. They are currently waiting for the teams to establish a new T-0.
Edit2: https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1796742454550684098
Electron has entered a hold due to a sensor reading. Operators are assessing options for recycling the count for today’s PREFIRE launch.
Edit3: They just announced that 20 minutes remains in today’s launch window. In my opinion, a scrub seems likely, but you never know…
Edit4: Countdown resumed at T-15 minutes! New T-0 is 03:46 UTC (15:46 NZST)!
Hold called at T-2:07. I believe this was the last launch opportunity in today’s window, so this is likely a “see you tomorrow” (or later) situation.
Edit: Yep, they’re preparing to detank the propellant.
Disappointing. Do they have a rescheduled time and date?
Not yet: https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1796756263302496517
Launch update: We stood down from today’s launch attempt for ‘PREFIRE and Ice’ for @NASA but we have plenty back-up opportunities in the coming days. Stay tuned for the new launch date soon.
The earliest launch window would be the following day, but it could take longer than that to diagnose and fix whatever the issue was.
Ah right, that makes sense. Thanks for the update 🙂
Go no-go poll is complete, teams polled go for launch.
Deployment of NASA PREFIRE satellite confirmed.
Edit: Webcast ended, though a “burn 2” was listed on the timeline. Possibly a deorbit burn for the kickstage?
Ooh a daytime one! I’ll have to see what we are doing at that time, would be nice to get to see another one live.
Reason for scrub was LOX temperature: https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1796795251979628778
Launch update 🚀We stood down from today’s launch attempt due to LOx temperatures being out of bounds for flight, but the resolution is well underway for the next attempt.
New launch date is Jun 5th: https://x.com/RocketLab/status/1797843874385363015
Launch update🚀We are GO for tomorrow’s launch attempt for the ‘PREFIRE and Ice’ mission for @NASA, our second launch for the PREFIRE mission to monitor Earth’s heat loss from the world’s coldest regions.
Launch window opens NET:
🚀NZT | 15:00
🚀UTC | 03:00
🚀EDT | 23:00
🚀PDT | 20:00Launch webcast has started! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBBhzkNzcYQ
Battery hot-swap confirmed.
MECO, stage separation, stage 2 ignition, and fairing jettison confirmed.
