CYGNSS Hurricane mission launch on Pegasus

Video from the channel Journey to Mars about Pegasus XL, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 10:16. Language: English. Video type: Launch.

Video of the launch of NASA's CYGNSS mission on a Pegasus XL, with the sound of mission control communications. According to the narration, CYGNSS is meant to help meteorologists understand and predict hurricane intensity. The payload consists of eight small observatories.

It begins with launch control at T minus 57 minutes 45 seconds, less than a minute before the L-1011 carrier aircraft takes off, and jumps to the final countdown with the aircraft already in the drop zone. After the rocket's drop, there follow first-stage ignition and burnout, stage separation, second-stage flight with fairing separation, a long coast phase and third-stage ignition, tracked from ground stations and from Kourou, in French Guiana.

When the third stage burns out the vehicle is left in orbit and reorients to release the payload. The observatories deploy in pairs, at roughly 20-second intervals, until all eight are out, at about 16,124 miles per hour and 319 miles altitude according to the narration. The Pegasus transmitters are then switched off, and control declares the mission a success. The video closes with communications from the L-1011's return.