Rocket Lab updates on NASA climate science mission

Rocket Lab USA (NASDAQ:RKLB) announced on Wednesday that it successfully completed the second of two Electron launches for NASA’s Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment, which is a climate change-focused mission.

The company’s ‘PREFIRE and Ice’ lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand and deployed the second of two satellites for the PREFIRE mission to a 525 km orbit. The first mission was successfully launched days earlier from the same launch pad, which was noted to demonstrate Rocket Lab’s (RKLB) ability to launch consistently and in quick succession to meet customer mission requirements.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) said the satellites will crisscross the Arctic and Antarctic to study heat lost to space from the Earth’s polar regions. Heat loss measurements collected by the PREFIRE mission will help to improve climate and ice-loss models to better predict Earth’s ice, sea level, and weather changes. The satellite mission is expected to operate for 10 months.

Electron has now delivered 185 satellites to space across all its launches, with today’s mission being Rocket Lab’s (RKLB) 49^th Electron launch overall and seventh mission of 2024. Of note, Electron remains the United States’ second-most frequently launched rocket annually and one of the most frequently launched rockets globally.

Shares of Rocket Lab (RKLB) were up 1.40% in premarket trading on Wednesday.