Firefly Aerospace wins NASA contract for INCUS mission launch
Firefly Aerospace has secured a fixed-price contract under NASAs Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) programme to launch the Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) mission. The dedicated Alpha rocket launch will take place from NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Part of NASAs Earth System Science Pathfinder programme, INCUS consists of three satellites designed to study the formation and behaviour of tropical storms. By analysing storm development, the mission aims to improve climate change models. Each satellite will be equipped with advanced instruments, including high-frequency precipitation radars and a microwave radiometer, to capture real-time data on storm intensity and cloud depth.
Fireflys Alpha rocket, built for dedicated missions, will deliver the INCUS satellites into precise orbits, enabling immediate scientific observations. This will be Fireflys third Alpha launch for NASA, following a successful mission last summer and an upcoming launch for NASAs QuickSounder mission in 2026.
Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, said: 'Firefly offers our customers responsive operations and mission flexibility with launch sites on the East and West Coast of the United States and internationally. We strategically built our one metric ton Alpha rocket to support dedicated missions like INCUS. This allows our customers to place their satellites in the exact orbit they need and use their mission-critical resources to immediately begin conducting research and making advancements in science.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Khaleej Times
White House reviews SpaceX contracts as Trump-Musk feud simmers, sources say
The White House earlier this month directed the Defense Department and NASA to gather details on billions of dollars in SpaceX contracts following the public blowout between President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, four people familiar with the order told Reuters. Sparking an ongoing review, the administration ordered the agencies to scrutinize Musk's contracts to ready possible retaliation against the businessman and his companies, these people said. As Reuters reported on Thursday, Pentagon officials are simultaneously considering whether to reduce the role that SpaceX, Musk's space and satellite company, may win in an ambitious new US missile defense system. Reuters couldn't determine whether the White House intends to cancel any of the approximately $22 billion in federal contracts SpaceX now has. But the review shows the administration is following through on a threat by Trump during his spat with Musk last week to possibly terminate business and subsidies for Musk ventures. 'We'll take a look at everything,' the president said, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on June 6. In an email to Reuters, a White House spokesperson didn't answer questions about Musk's business, saying the 'Trump administration is committed to a rigorous review process for all bids and contracts.' In a separate statement, a spokesperson at NASA said the agency 'will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the president's objectives in space are met.' Neither SpaceX nor officials at the Defense Department responded to requests for comment. The people familiar with the order said the contract scrutiny is intended to give the administration the ability to move fast if Trump decides to act against Musk, who until recently was a senior advisor to the president and the head of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The review is 'for political ammunition,' one of the people said. Whether the US government could legally, or practically, cancel existing contracts is unclear. But the possibility underscores concerns among governance experts that politics and personal pique could improperly influence matters affecting government coffers, national security and the public interest. 'There's an irony here that Musk's contracts could be under the same type of subjective political scrutiny that he and his DOGE team have put on thousands of other contracts,' said Scott Amey, a contracting expert and general counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group based in Washington. 'Any decision shouldn't be based on the egos of two men but on the best interests of the public and national security.' Musk's SpaceX in recent years has become a crucial partner of the US government in much of its aerospace and defense work — launching satellites and other space cargo and potentially managing a crucial element of the 'Golden Dome' missile shield planned by Trump. Although Musk in recent days has sought to walk back some of his critiques of the president such as calling for Trump's impeachment last week and linking him to a convicted sex offender — his outbursts nonetheless highlighted the government's reliance on SpaceX. Before reversing course, Musk threatened to decommission the company's Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, as part of a roughly $5 billion contract with NASA, is the only U.S. vessel currently capable of carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX is also building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with the National Reconnaissance Office, a U.S. intelligence agency. The contract was a pivotal transaction for SpaceX, deepening its ties with U.S. defense and intelligence services.
Khaleej Times
2 days ago
- Khaleej Times
UWL RAK student represents UAE and receives Nasa Space Apps Challenge Award
The University of West London – RAK Campus recently celebrated a moment of international recognition as Umamah Ali, a final-year BSc (Hons) Computer Science student, visited Nasa headquarters in Washington, DC, to receive the 'Most inspirational project award' at the Nasa International Space Apps Challenge 2024. Umamah represented both UWL RAK and the UAE, accepting the award on behalf of her team, which includes Rikzah Noorul Huda Khattal, Samira Rafiq Khan, and Shafeeqa Fathima Jahangir. The team made history as the first from the UAE to win this prestigious recognition in a competition that saw participation from over 93,000 individuals across 163 countries. Their award-winning project, Eco-Metropolis: Sustainable City Simulation, is an educational, interactive game designed to engage youth in sustainability, climate resilience, and smart city development. By incorporating real Nasa datasets and aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goal 11, the game offers a practical learning tool that empowers players to understand the importance of responsible urban planning and resource management. "This is not just a win for UWL RAK, but a proud moment for the UAE,' stated UWL RAK leadership. "The team's innovative spirit and dedication reflect our institution's vision to nurture global changemakers who are prepared to solve the world's most pressing challenges." The University of West London RAK campus remains committed to empowering its students to lead with innovation, impact, and purpose on both local and global platforms.
Dubai Eye
4 days ago
- Dubai Eye
UAE astronomers detect exoplanets orbiting distant stars
Astronomers in the UAE have detected exoplanets orbiting stars far beyond the solar system, the Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomy Centre announced. Al Khatem Astronomical Observatory, located deep in the Abu Dhabi desert, worked in partnership with the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. The astronmers analysed subtle changes in the brightness of stars to detect the transit of planets in front of them - a technique used to discover exoplanets. Eng. Khalfan Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the International Astronomy Center, said the detection of these planets is based on preliminary data provided by the TESS telescope, and is being verified on Earth through a global network of specialised observatories. Eng. Mohammed Shawkat Awda, Director of the International Astronomy Center, said that the Al Khatim Observatory officially joined the TESS Follow-Up Observing Program (TFOP) program in June 2024, after completing a rigorous training program conducted by international experts, followed by a successful practical test to observe one of the candidate planets. He explained that since joining, it has conducted a series of nighttime observations, each lasting between four and seven hours, focusing on 12 stars suspected of having planets. He noted that using its main telescope, it was able to transform the status of 10 of these stars from "candidate planets" to "confirmed planets," an achievement that demonstrates the precision of the observatory's research. Official documents from the Global Programme indicate that the Khatem Observatory achieved these results independently, reflecting the efficiency of its equipment and the accuracy of the observations it provides, especially in light of the environmental challenges facing ground-based observations. Awda emphasised that this contribution represents an important scientific step for the UAE in the field of space exploration, placing it in a leading position in the search for planets that may be habitable, or providing new insights into the formation and evolution of planets in distant galaxies.
