Latest news with #VADR
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Aspera's Galaxy Mission
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California, to launch the agency's Aspera mission, a SmallSat to study galaxy formation and evolution, providing new insights into how the universe works. The selection is part of NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to make fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task order awards during VADR's five-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million. Through the observation of ultraviolet light, Aspera will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, called the intergalactic medium. The mission will study the inflow and outflow of gas from galaxies, a process thought to contribute to star formation. Aspera is part of NASA's Pioneers Program in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which funds compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost using small hardware and modest payloads. The principal investigator for Aspera is Carlos Vargas at the University of Arizona in Tucson. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contract. To learn more about NASA's Aspera mission and the Pioneers Program, visit: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NASA Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Awards Launch Service Task Order for Aspera's Galaxy Mission
WASHINGTON, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has selected Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California, to launch the agency's Aspera mission, a SmallSat to study galaxy formation and evolution, providing new insights into how the universe works. The selection is part of NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to make fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task order awards during VADR's five-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million. Through the observation of ultraviolet light, Aspera will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, called the intergalactic medium. The mission will study the inflow and outflow of gas from galaxies, a process thought to contribute to star formation. Aspera is part of NASA's Pioneers Program in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which funds compelling astrophysics science at a lower cost using small hardware and modest payloads. The principal investigator for Aspera is Carlos Vargas at the University of Arizona in Tucson. NASA's Launch Services Program, based at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the VADR contract. To learn more about NASA's Aspera mission and the Pioneers Program, visit: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NASA
Broadcast Pro
11-03-2025
- Business
- Broadcast Pro
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.'
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Firefly Aerospace Awarded NASA Contract to Launch INCUS Mission from Wallops
INCUS to launch on Firefly's Alpha rocket as early as 2026 from NASA's Wallops Flight FacilityCEDAR PARK, Texas, March 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced the company was awarded a fixed-price NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract for a dedicated Alpha launch of the agency's Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) mission from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. As part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program, INCUS is a NASA Earth Venture-Mission with three satellites that will study why, when, and where tropical storms form to help advance climate change models. 'Firefly offers our customers responsive operations and mission flexibility with launch sites on the East and West Coast of the United States and internationally,' said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly aerospace. '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.' Once deployed, three INCUS satellites will fly in tight coordination to study the behavior of tropical storms and thunderstorms, including how storm systems form, evolve, and dissipate. According to NASA, each satellite will have a high frequency precipitation radar that observes rapid changes in convective cloud depth and intensities. One of the three satellites also will carry a microwave radiometer to provide the spatial content of the larger scale weather observed by the radars. By flying so closely together, the satellites will use the slight differences in when they make observations to apply a novel time-differencing approach to estimate the vertical transport of convective mass. The INCUS mission will launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility that supports both Alpha and Firefly's Medium Launch Vehicle. INCUS will be Firefly's third Alpha launch for NASA – the first launched successfully last summer and the second is scheduled from Vandenberg Space Force Base for NASA QuickSounder in 2026. Firefly's Alpha rocket is the only commercially operational launch vehicle dedicated to serving the one-metric ton satellite market. The flight-proven vehicle provides responsive, reliable, and cost-competitive launch services directly to customers' preferred orbits. About Firefly AerospaceFirefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners ('AEI') focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly's small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. For more information, visit Media Contactpress@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA picks SpaceX to launch Pandora exoplanet mission
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A small NASA exoplanet probe now has a ride to Earth orbit. The agency announced on Monday afternoon (Feb. 10) that it has picked SpaceX to launch Pandora, a 716-pound (325-kilogram) satellite designed to help scientists better understand how our understanding of exoplanets' atmospheres are affected by changes in their host stars. Pandora will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than this fall, according to NASA officials. Pandora will head to low Earth orbit. Once there, the satellite will observe at least 20 known transiting exoplanets — worlds that cross the face of their parent star from the telescope's perspective. It will observe these planets 10 separate times, staring at them for 24 hours on each occasion. Related: Bizarre alien planet has layered atmosphere of vaporized metals "The satellite will use an innovative 17-inch (45-centimeter)-wide all-aluminum telescope to simultaneously measure the visible and near-infrared brightness of the host star and obtain near-infrared spectra of the transiting planet," NASA officials said in Monday's statement. "This will allow scientists to cleanly separate star and planetary signals, knowledge that will enhance observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and future missions searching for habitable worlds, like the agency's Habitable Worlds Observatory," they added. Related Stories: — Exoplanets: Everything you need to know about the worlds beyond our solar system — Fastest disintegrating world ever seen 'spills its guts' for NASA's exoplanet hunter — Strange multi-planet system proves not all hot Jupiter exoplanets are lonely giants The SpaceX selection was made via NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. "This contract allows the agency to make fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity awards during VADR's five-year ordering period, with a maximum total value of $300 million across all contracts," NASA officials wrote. Pandora won't be the first NASA exoplanet probe that SpaceX launches. The agency's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) lifted off atop a Falcon 9 in April 2018.
