Rocket Lab USA, Inc. announced it is preparing two back-to-back Electron launches to deploy NASA?s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission. The two dedicated missions will each deploy one satellite to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The first mission ?

named ?Ready, Aim, PREFIRE? ? is scheduled to launch no earlier than May 22, 2024.

The launch date of the second mission ? named ?PREFIRE And Ice? ?

will be scheduled to take place within three weeks of the successful deployment of the first PREFIRE mission. The missions will be Rocket Lab?s 48th and 49th Electron launches overall and its sixth and seventh launches of 2024. PREFIRE is the latest to join Rocket Lab?s list of NASA science and technology missions launched on Electron in recent years.

These include the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon launched by Electron and deployed by a Rocket Lab Explorer spacecraft bus; two back-to-back Electron launches for the TROPICS mission in May 2023; the recent NASA Starling mission launched on Electron; and NASA?s ACS3 mission launched last month on a rideshare mission. Ready, Aim, PREFIRE? launch details: Launch date: no-earlier-than May 22, 2024.

Customer: NASA. Satellite: PREFIRE-1. Target orbit: 525km circular Earth orbit.