spacetoday.net: NASA selects Rocket Lab to launch two science missions

Posted: Sat, Jun 27, 2026, 11:16 AM ET (1516 GMT)
Electron launch of CAPSTONE (NASA TV)

NASA selected Rocket Lab to launch a pair of Earth and space science missions. NASA said Thursday it will use Rocket Lab's Electron to launch its Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer, or PolSIR, and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2, or TSIS-2, missions in 2027. PolSIR features a pair of cubesats, launched on individual Electrons, to measure the rise and fall of ice crystals in tropical clouds, as well as how those changes in ice affect storm development. TSIS-2 carries instruments to measure the amount of solar energy entering Earth's atmosphere as a successor to TSIS-1, an ISS payload. NASA used its Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract to make the awards and did not disclose their value.