Monday, two small satellites belonging to the US Space Agency (NASA) dedicated to observing the development of hurricanes took off from New Zealand, on a rocket of the American company “Rocket Lab”, hour by hour.
The “Electron” missile, which belongs to the category of small bombers and has a height of 18 meters, was launched from Mahia in northern New Zealand, according to the “Rocket Lab” company.
The weight of the two satellites, which are of the “CubeSat” category, do not exceed five kilograms, and they will be stationed at an altitude of about 550 km. Within about two weeks, a second rocket, also belonging to the “Rocket Lab” company, will be launched, carrying two other satellites to complete this small constellation, reports Al-Rai daily quoting AFP.
This constellation of satellites will be able to pass over Pacific typhoons every hour, while they currently pass every six hours. The mission is called Tropics.
NASA scientist Will McCarty explained in a press conference that these satellites will allow scientists not only to “monitor what is happening at a specific moment (…) but to know how the situation changes hour by hour.”
He added, “We will still need large satellites (…) but what we can get from this mission is additional information to that already provided by our most prominent satellites.”
This information collected by the new satellites about precipitation, temperature and humidity contributes to improving weather forecasts, especially where the hurricane will reach land and with what intensity, and thus better preparation for possible evacuations of the population living on the coasts.