Pegasus satellite. Photo: Orbital

[Via Satellite 04-07-2014] NASA has granted Orbital Sciences a contract to launch the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) multi-satellite mission on board the Pegasus XL rocket. Orbital’s Stargazer L 1011 aircraft will carry the CYGNSS payload. The mission is planned for October 2016 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station in Florida.

The CYGNSS mission will record measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycles of tropical storms and hurricanes, in order to assist in better predictions for severe weather on Earth. The University of Michigan is leading the mission, and will use a constellation of eight small satellites that will be carried on the Pegasus launch vehicle. The CYGNSS’s micro-satellite observatories are designed to collect direct and reflected signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites.

“Pegasus has been the workhorse of the small-class launch market for reliable missions to orbit for over two decades, with its last 28 consecutive missions fully successful over a 16-year period,” said Ron Grabe, Orbital’s EVP and general manager of the launch systems group. “With this new Pegasus contract, Orbital will continue its long-standing support of NASA science missions.”