Earth orbit
INCUS
NASA's three-SmallSat INCUS mission will investigate how tropical convective storms, heavy precipitation, and clouds form and evolve.
NASA lists INCUS as a future mission with a no-earlier-than 2027 launch. Two of its three SmallSats completed assembly and testing in 2026, while work continued on the third.
View in 3D map ↗Official mission site ↗The mission
INCUS, short for Investigation of Convective Updrafts, is a NASA Earth Venture Mission comprising three coordinated SmallSats. Their measurements will examine the dynamics of tropical convective storms to improve understanding of heavy precipitation and cloud processes and help advance weather and climate models.
The launch
- Launch
- No earlier than 2027
- Launch location
- Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, United States
- Launch vehicle
- Not documented
- Orbit
- Low Earth orbit
Launch intelligence
A Firefly Alpha rocket will launch the INCUS mission. The launch date is currently targeted for October, 2026 (UTC).
- Launch provider
- Firefly
- Vehicle
- Alpha
- COSPAR launch ID
- Not assigned
- Flight profile
- Orbital
- Launch result
- Not set
- Window opens
- Not published
- Target T-0
- Not published
- Window closes
- Not published
- Provider display
- Oct 2026
- Pad and location
- Pad 0A, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (Wallops Island)
Mission timeline
Follow the mission through its available trajectory data in the full 3D solar-system map.
- Now
Assembly and testing progress
June 5, 2026 · Earth orbit
NASA reported that two INCUS SmallSats had completed assembly and testing, with testing continuing on the third ahead of a 2027 launch.
Open milestone source ↗Objectives
- 01
Observe how tropical convective storms and heavy precipitation develop.
- 02
Measure the relationship between convective updrafts, clouds, and rainfall.
- 03
Improve understanding of storm processes used in weather and climate models.
Spacecraft
INCUS SmallSats
Three NASA SmallSats designed to fly in close coordination while observing tropical convective storms.
Gallery
One image from INCUS.
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