NASA Aspera

Rocket Lab will deploy NASA’s Aspera spacecraft on Electron from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, no earlier than Q1 2026. Using a telescope to observe ultraviolet light, the Aspera mission will study the hot gas in the space between galaxies also known as the intergalactic medium — potentially unlocking new insights into how galaxies are formed.

Aspera is the first NASA astrophysics mission to map these ultraviolet light signatures as a part of NASA’s Pioneers Program in the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, which funds compelling astrophysics science research at a lower cost. Aspera joins a long list of critical NASA science missions awarded to Rocket Lab since 2018.