On-Orbit Commissioning of NASA's TRACERS Mission Underway
Spacecraft Will Work in Tandem to Study the Interactions Between the Sun's Magnetic Field and Earth's Magnetosphere
On-orbit commissioning of NASA's Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) is being conducted by Millennium Space Systems following the mission's launch last week.
"TRACERS is the result of strong collaboration between our team, NASA, the University of Iowa, and Southwest Research Institute."
Richard Prasad, Millennium Space Systems
Millennium designed, built, and tested the two identical TRACERS spacecraft at its factory in El Segundo and is conducting mission operations from the company's in-house Mission Operations Center (MOC). The spacecraft launched as a primary rideshare payload aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base after completing testing at Millennium's Small Satellite Factory in June 2025.
"Millennium has enabled TRACERS through design, production, and now into launch and mission operations," said Tony Gingiss, CEO, Millennium Space Systems. "We are thrilled to be part of this important NASA mission, enabling critical advances in heliophysics science which will help improve our understanding of space weather, ultimately benefitting commercial and national space systems."
"TRACERS is the result of strong collaboration between our team, NASA, the University of Iowa, and Southwest Research Institute," said Richard Prasad, TRACERS Spacecraft and MOC Project Manager, Millennium Space Systems. "That close partnership was key to delivering two high-quality spacecraft, and we'll continue working together through on-orbit operations to ensure the mission achieves its science objectives."
Now in orbit, the spacecraft will work in tandem to study the interactions between the Sun's magnetic field and Earth's magnetosphere to advance understanding of how this interaction shapes space weather on Earth.