A constellation of identical 3U CubeSats provide sounding (left CubeSat has a temperature profile of a simulated Tropical Cyclone (TC) from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model) and 12-channel radiometric imagery (center CubeSat has simulated radiances from NWP model and radiative transfer model and the near right CubeSat has a single-channel radiance image of a TC) with a median revisit rate approaching 60 minutes to meet state-of-the-art performance.The Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) mission will provide rapid-refresh microwave measurements over the tropics that can be used to observe the thermodynamics of the troposphere and precipitation structure for storm systems at the mesoscale and synoptic scale over the entire storm lifecycle. TROPICS comprises a constellation of CubeSats in three low-Earth orbital planes. Each CubeSat will host a high-performance radiometer scanning across the satellite track at 30 RPM to provide temperature profiles using seven channels near the 118.75 GHz oxygen absorption line, water vapor profiles using 3 channels near the 183 GHz water vapor absorption line, imagery in a single channel near 90 GHz for precipitation measurements, and a single channel at 205 GHz for cloud ice measurements.More Information: https://tropics.ll.mit.edu/CMS/tropics/Mission-Overview
Date: By July 2022Mission: TROPICS First Launchhttps://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/
NASA says first launch in JulyQuoteDate: By July 2022Mission: TROPICS First Launchhttps://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/
Successful static fire for @NASA TROPICS-1! #AdAstra
It appears that Astra is targeting the 12th of this month for the launch.
010004Z JUN 22NAVAREA IV 543/22(GEN).WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.FLORIDA.1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING 121600Z TO 121845Z JUN, ALTERNATE 1600Z TO 1845Z DAILY 13 JUN THRU 18 JUN IN AREAS BOUND BY: A. 28-29.44N 080-32.53W, 28-37.00N 080-07.00W, 28-50.00N 078-52.00W, 29-30.00N 075-17.00W, 29-52.00N 071-26.00W, 30-11.00N 066-13.00W, 30-18.00N 056-04.00W, 29-10.00N 047-01.00W, 28-52.00N 047-01.00W, 28-51.00N 047-02.00W, 29-53.00N 056-05.00W, 29-29.00N 071-05.00W, 29-00.00N 075-35.00W, 28-23.00N 080-23.00W, 28-25.82N 080-34.27W. B. 30-26.00N 067-06.00W, 31-14.00N 063-34.00W, 31-34.00N 056-44.00W, 30-56.00N 050-59.00W, 29-57.00N 046-22.00W, 28-51.00N 046-29.00W, 28-31.00N 050-15.00W, 28-32.00N 055-55.00W, 28-59.00N 061-51.00W, 29-28.00N 067-00.00W.2. CANCEL THIS MSG 181945Z JUN 22.//
It appears that Astra is targeting the 12th of this month for the launch.https://twitter.com/w_robinsonsmith/status/1533936491944099845
NextSpaceFlight indicates that the launch window is from 16:00 UTC to 18:45 UTC, pointing to the beginning of the launch window.
NGA notice.Quote from: NGA010004Z JUN 22NAVAREA IV 543/22(GEN).WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.FLORIDA.1. HAZARDOUS OPERATIONS, ROCKET LAUNCHING 121600Z TO 121845Z JUN, ALTERNATE 1600Z TO 1845Z DAILY 13 JUN THRU 18 JUN IN AREAS BOUND BY: A. 28-29.44N 080-32.53W, 28-37.00N 080-07.00W, 28-50.00N 078-52.00W, 29-30.00N 075-17.00W, 29-52.00N 071-26.00W, 30-11.00N 066-13.00W, 30-18.00N 056-04.00W, 29-10.00N 047-01.00W, 28-52.00N 047-01.00W, 28-51.00N 047-02.00W, 29-53.00N 056-05.00W, 29-29.00N 071-05.00W, 29-00.00N 075-35.00W, 28-23.00N 080-23.00W, 28-25.82N 080-34.27W. B. 30-26.00N 067-06.00W, 31-14.00N 063-34.00W, 31-34.00N 056-44.00W, 30-56.00N 050-59.00W, 29-57.00N 046-22.00W, 28-51.00N 046-29.00W, 28-31.00N 050-15.00W, 28-32.00N 055-55.00W, 28-59.00N 061-51.00W, 29-28.00N 067-00.00W.2. CANCEL THIS MSG 181945Z JUN 22.//
ATCSCC ADVZY 033 DCC 06/10/2022 OPERATIONS PLANSPACE LAUNCH/RECOVERY OPERATIONS:ASTRA TROPICS-1 CSS, FLPRIMARY: 06/12/22 1600Z-1836ZBACKUP: 06/13-18/22 1600Z-1836Z