NASA and Rocket Lab have postponed the launch of NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in Far Infrared Experiment) mission to Saturday, May 25, due to severe weather conditions affecting Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. The team will remain on the field until the weather improves.

The mission aims to place two CubeSats in asynchronous, near-polar orbits to study the amount of heat Earth loses from the Arctic and Antarctic to space. Following the successful deployment of the first CubeSat, a second launch will be planned.

PREFIRE, which stands for Polar Radiant Energy in Far Infrared Research, is a NASA mission designed to study Earth’s thermal energy dynamics, with a particular focus on how much heat is lost from the Arctic and Antarctic to space. The mission uses two small CubeSats research satellites placed in asynchronous, near-pole orbits.

By measuring the far-infrared energy emitted by these polar regions, PREFIRE aims to improve our understanding of the Earth’s energy balance and provide valuable data to climate science, particularly for understanding and predicting changes in polar ice and cloud dynamics. The data collected by PREFIRE will also help improve climate models and provide more accurate predictions of future climate scenarios.