spacetoday.net: Pegasus to launch Earth science smallsats

Posted: Wed, Apr 2, 2014, 9:55 AM ET (1355 GMT)
Pegasus XL launch of IRIS (NASA)

NASA has awarded a contract to Orbital Sciences for the launch of a constellation of small satellites that will monitor hurricanes and other tropical storms. Under the deal, announced at the end of last week by NASA and confirmed by Orbital Tuesday, a Pegasus XL rocket will launch the eight Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) satellites in 2016 on a mission based out of Cape Canaveral. The satellites will use direct and reflected GPS signals to study surface winds in and near the cores of hurricanes, collecting data not available from other spacecraft. The $55-million contract is the first award for the venerable Pegasus XL in some time; it last launched NASA's IRIS mission last June and has no other missions on its current manifest.