After a long-distance voyage to the Rocket Lab launch complex in New Zealand, the tiny twin PREFIRE CubeSats are being prepped for launch aboard two separate Electron rockets. The first PREFIRE CubeSat launch (referred to as Ready, Aim, PREFIRE by Rocket Lab) may occur as soon as May 22, 2024. Depending on where in the world you are, its launch time of about 7:30 am UTC may be during the day or night. Just how tiny are they? Each is the size and shape of a large shoebox when their solar panels are folded up!

The first PREFIRE CubeSat launch has been dubbed Ready, Aim, PREFIRE by Rocket Lab, and will occur no earlier than May 22, 2024. Its sibling will then be lofted into space during the PREFIRE and Ice launch, within 3 weeks of the first.

Heading into space in late spring 2024 from a seaside launchpad in New Zealand, the dual PREFIRE CubeSats will soon begin their work! Although small in size, they will provide important measurements about how well the Earth's polar regions are able to cool off.

NASA has selected the launch provider for the PREFIRE mission. Rocket Lab USA Inc. of Long Beach, California will launch both PREFIRE CubeSats during the spring of 2024. The first PREFIRE CubeSat launch is nominally scheduled for May 1, 2024, and the launch of the other PREFIRE CubeSat is scheduled for May 15, 2024.

Across Greenland, a 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) thick ice sheet blankets the large island holding enough water to raise sea levels by 7 m (23 ft). For millennia, the cycle of melting and freezing has played a major role in...