NASA TRACERS Twin-Satellite Mission Launched on Falcon 9
Why in the news
NASA’s twin-satellite TRACERS mission has been launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California. The launch took place on 23 July 2025 (one source lists 26 July).
Key facts
- Rocket and site: Falcon 9 Block 5, Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 4.
- Spacecraft: two identically instrumented satellites.
- Orbit: low Earth polar orbit at about 600 km, passing through the polar cusps.
- Science goal: magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause and how the solar wind affects the magnetosphere.
- Instruments: magnetometers, electric field instruments and particle analysers.
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cost | USD 115 million, from NASA |
| Principal investigator | David M. Miles, University of Iowa |
| Mission duration | 12 months |
| Instrument teams | UCLA, University of Iowa, UC Berkeley |
About the mission
Flying as a pair lets scientists compare observations closely and see how reconnection changes over time. The work should help forecast energetic particle inflow that can disturb power grids and communications. Three small NASA satellites (Athena EPIC, PExT and REAL) rode on the same launch.
Exam angle
- Know the mission theme: magnetic reconnection and the magnetosphere.
- Launch vehicle: Falcon 9; agency: NASA.
- Space-weather studies tie in with satellite and power-grid protection.