NASA set to launch 3 suborbital sounding rockets from Southern Hemisphere

NASA is gearing up to launch three suborbital sounding rockets in June and July from Equatorial Launch Australia's Arnhem Space Center (ASC).

This will be the first time the agency will undertake a launch from a commercial launch facility outside of the US.

"We're excited to be able to launch important science missions from the Southern Hemisphere and see targets that we can't from the United States. The launches this summer will allow us to explore how a star's light can influence a planet's habitability among other things," said Nicky Fox, director for NASA's Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

🚀 Launch Announcement! NASA will launch 3 suborbital sounding rockets in June & July from @ela_space's Arnhem Space Center in Australia! These rockets are on a mission to conduct astrophysics studies that can only be done from the Southern Hemisphere. https://t.co/EYPRx5T0CN pic.twitter.com/qi01pC8XAn

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) June 7, 2022

Below are NASA's upcoming sounding rockets missions:

X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC)

Targeted for launch on June 26, XQC will carry unique X-ray detectors to measure interstellar X-rays with unprecedented precision to better understand the interstellar medium and its influence on the structure and evolution of galaxies and stars.

Suborbital Imaging Spectrograph for Transition region Irradiance from Nearby Exoplanet host stars (SISTINE)

Targeted for launch on July 4, SISTINE will study how ultraviolet light from stars affects the atmospheres of the planets around them, including the gases thought to be signs of life.

Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment (DEUCE)

Targeted to launch on July 12, will measure a so-far unstudied part of their extreme ultraviolet light spectrum. These measurements are needed to model stars similar and smaller than our Sun, as well as understand their effects on planetary atmospheres.

The three missions will launch on two-stage Black Brant IX sounding rockets, from the ASC to conduct astrophysics studies that can only be done from the Southern Hemisphere, the agency said on Wednesday.