Rocket Lab’s next mission has launched from Māhia Peninsula

The launch took place on Monday from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 Pad A on the Māhia Peninsula. Photo / Rocket Lab

The Rocket Lab mission called Rocket Like a Hurricane has blasted off from the Māhia Peninsula.

The company aimed to deploy the first pair of Tropics storm monitoring satellites for Nasa on Monday.

The two-hour launch window opened on May 8 from 1pm when it launched smartly at 1.02pm for the first of two dedicated electron launches from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 Pad A on the Māhia Peninsula.

Watch a livestream from Launch Complex 1 below.

The Tropics constellation (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) will monitor the formation and evolution of tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, and will provide rapidly updating observations of storm intensity.

This data will help scientists to improve modelling and prediction of the weather events.

The constellation, which is part of Nasa’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Programme, consists of four CubeSats that require launch to a specific orbit at an altitude of 550km and inclination of about 30 degrees, Rocket Lab said before the launch on Monday.

All four satellites need to be in operational orbit within a 60-day period. The second launch is titled Coming To a Storm Near You and is expected to launch about two weeks after the launch of Rocket Like a Hurricane.

Rocket Lab took over the contract for two Tropics launches, each carrying two cyclone-monitoring satellites in November last year, after rival Astra lost two Tropics satellites in June.

Rocket Like a Hurricane is Rocket Lab’s fourth Electron mission for 2023, the company said.