NASA has Selected Electron to Launch the Aspera Mission

May 14, 2025, Long Beach, CA. Rocket Lab has been selected by NASA to launch its Aspera astrophysics mission. The spacecraft will be launched on top of an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, no earlier than Q1 2026. Aspera will bring into space the payload designed to study galaxy formation and the evolution of the Universe.

The latest Meatball on the manifest @NASA has selected Electron to launch its Aspera astrophysics science mission to study the formation of stars and galaxies. Launching NET Q1 2026. Learn more: https://t.co/fo5gATlyX2 pic.twitter.com/kn90ZkMb9p
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) May 14, 2025

Aspera is the most recent of a long series of missions awarded by NASA to Rocket Lab. The first was the CAPSTONE mission launched to the Moon by Electron and deployed by Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon spacecraft. Other missions include NASA’s TROPICS mission launched by Electron, the agency’s PREFIRE mission, and other small satellite missions launched on Electron since 2018.

The mission

Led by principal investigator Carlos Vargas from the University of Arizona and managed by the university’s Department of Astronomy & Steward Observatory, the Aspera Mission is part of NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. Born in 2020, this program supports astrophysics studies and research at a lower cost by using smaller hardware. This includes SmallSats, high-altitude balloons, and modest payloads attached to the International Space Station. The program is funding several scientific missions aiming to study the cosmic phenomena, with a $20M cost cap.

The launch is organized under NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract, managed by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This contract aims to foster growth in the U.S. launch market through collaboration with private industry and international partners. This could enable cheaper access to space for an ever-increasing number of science and technology missions.

Manufacturing of NASA Aspera spacecraft bus by Space Flight Laboratory (SFL). Credits: SFL — *Manufacturing of NASA’s Aspera spacecraft bus by Space Flight Laboratory (SFL). Credits: SFL*

To lower launch costs for risk-tolerant science missions, VADR reduces agency oversight and increases operational flexibility for commercial launch providers. It supports the launch of payloads ranging from CubeSats to Class D missions, the most cost-effective and risk-tolerant mission category. Thus, they are ideal platforms for innovation in technology and architecture.

VADR enables rapid, fixed-price launch service acquisitions for NASA and NASA-sponsored missions, while also benefiting launch providers. This is accomplished by embracing commercial practices, reducing mission requirements, and allowing uncertified rocket configurations to fly once they pass NASA’s certification process. As part of VADR, the fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts have a five-year ordering period with a maximum total value of $300 million across all contracts.

Building the spacecraft

Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) is a leading company in the development of nano-, micro-, and small satellites, including high-performance, low-cost CubeSats. Thanks to its renowned expertise in developing advanced attitude control systems and achieving extremely precise sensor pointing, it was selected to manufacture the spacecraft.

“SFL is proud to play a role in such a challenging space astrophysics mission that will enhance our understanding of how the universe formed,” said SFL Director, Dr. Robert E. Zee. On April 28, SFL completed the assembly of the Aspera bus. In the following months, SFL will perform the integration of the spacecraft with the far-UV Aspera onboard telescope, built by the University of Arizona, at the dedicated integration facility.

The Aspera spacecraft

Aspera is a 60 kg spacecraft that uses a larger variant of SFL’s scalable DEFIANT microsatellite platform. Equipped with a telescope, it will be the first mission ever that will study the hot gas free to move in the space between galaxies, also called “circumgalactic medium”, by observing ultraviolet light. Analysing its composition and its inflow and outflow from galaxies could be a crucial step to provide new insights into the origins of stars, planets, and the evolution of the universe.

*Artistic rendering of the NASA Aspera astrophysics mission. Credits: University of Arizona*

“Why do we care about that? Because every star that has formed, every planet that’s formed, and all life on those planets must come from matter somewhere,” Said Carlos Vargas. Indeed, the Aspera mission derives its name from the Latin word that stands for ‘hardship’ because astronomers have never been able to successfully observe and study the intergalactic medium. Aspera could be the first to accomplish this important objective.

^{*Cover image credits: Rocket Lab}