NASA Selects Rocket Lab (RKLB) to Launch Sun, Earth Science Missions
The NASA contract allows the agency to award fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task orders to Rocket Lab during a 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million.
(Long Beach, California) NASA announced this afternoon (Jun. 25) that it has selected Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) to provide the launch service for both the agency’s PolSIR (Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer) and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) missions.
Image of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket courtesy of Rocket Lab’s Instagram account, @rocketlabcorp.
Per today’s press release from NASA, the two missionselections are part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract, which enables NASA to award fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task orders during VADR’s 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million.
(1) Per NASA, the PoISIR mission will help provide a better understanding of ice clouds that form at high altitudes throughout tropical and subtropical regions.
Rocket Lab will launch PolSIR aboard two of its dedicated Electron rockets no earlier than June 2027 from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.
(2) The TSIS-2 mission will measure the Sun’s energy input to Earth; Rocket Lab’s spacecraft will provide critical data for understanding our planet’s ocean currents, seasons, and weather, according to NASA.
Rocket Lab will launch TSIS-2 aboard an Electron rocket in early 2027 from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia.
