NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch Sun, Earth Science Missions

NASA has selected Rocket Lab to provide the launch service for the Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) and the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) missions. The selections are part of the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract, which allows 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.

PolSIR will study high-altitude ice clouds that form across tropical and subtropical regions. Rocket Lab will launch the mission aboard two dedicated Electron rockets no earlier than June 2027 from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand.

New Zealand, Mahia

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