MAIA Instrument to be Launched by Firefly

NASA’s Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) instrument will be launched next year on a FireFly Alpha rocket carrying a General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS)-developed Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite. The launch is currently planned for Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2022.

“Firefly’s Alpha rocket meets all technical and performance requirements to launch GA-EMS’ OTB spacecraft with the MAIA instrument as the primary payload on a rideshare mission.”

Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS.

“Firefly’s Alpha rocket meets all technical and performance requirements to launch GA-EMS’ OTB spacecraft with the MAIA instrument as the primary payload on a rideshare mission,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “By leveraging Firefly’s inventive launch capabilities with our novel approach to satellite design and development, GA-EMS is able to assure our customers keep pace with the demand to launch missions like MAIA to advance NASA’s Earth Science research goals.”

MAIA’s planned three year on-orbit operation will measure airborne particulate matter in the atmosphere to allow team embers to correlate MAIA’s measurements with adverse human health issues such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, initially focused on 12 primary target areas around the world. MAIA is a Venture-class mission within NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA is responsible for the MAIA instrument design, development and delivery.

“We are honored to have been selected by GA-EMS to launch this important NASA science payload,” said Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly chief executive officer. “The Firefly team and our industry partners look forward to supporting GA-EMS on this exciting mission. The MAIA payload is a perfect example of people all around the world directly benefiting from a leading-edge space mission.”

Since the first GA-EMS OTB satellite launched in 2019, the platform has exceeded expectations and continued to operate with high mission assurance. GA-EMS' OTB satellite is quickly becoming the platform of choice across a broad set of missions as GA-EMS continues to design, build and launch a variety of OTB space vehicles that will execute the missions of the future, according to the company.

(Image provided with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems news release)