# Firefly Alpha Block 2 | INCUS: launch

> Firefly Alpha Block 2 by Firefly Aerospace from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA. Scheduled: NET 2027.

- Canonical page: https://spacenexus.us/launch/cml5wsu4x006rdx9f51t7xsy1
- This Markdown version: https://spacenexus.us/launch/cml5wsu4x006rdx9f51t7xsy1.md
- Data as of: 2026-10-13 01:45 UTC (last Launch Library 2 sync)
- How the numbers are made: https://spacenexus.us/launch-slips/method

## Facts

- Launch: Firefly Alpha Block 2 | INCUS
- Mission: INCUS
- Provider: Firefly Aerospace
- Rocket: Firefly Alpha Block 2
- Pad: Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, USA
- Country of the launch site: USA
- Date (UTC): NET 2027 (2027-12-31T00:00:00.000Z)
- Status: tbd (Launch Library 2: TBD)
- Real slips recorded: 0; other date moves (placeholder rolls, firmings), not slips: 0

## Mission description

Quoted from Launch Library 2: The Investigation of Convective Updrafts (INCUS) is a NASA Earth science mission led by Colorado State University that will investigate the behavior of tropical storms in order to better represent these storms in weather and climate models. It consists of 3 SmallSats flying in tight coordination to study why convective storms, heavy precipitation, and clouds occur exactly when and where they form. Each satellite will have a high frequency precipitation radar that observes rapid changes in convective cloud depth and intensities. 1 of the 3 satellites also will carry a microwave radiometer to provide the spatial content of the larger scale weather observed by the radars. By flying so closely together, the satellites will use the slight differences in when they make observations to apply a novel time-differencing approach to estimate the vertical transport of convective mass.

## Date history

"Seen live" means our sync saw the change when it happened; "caught up late" means Launch Library 2 made it earlier, on a day we do not know, and it is never counted as a slip.

| Observed | From | To | Kind | Shift (days) | Observation |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-09-24 | Oct 31, 2026 (placeholder) | 2027 | Placeholder roll | 426 | caught up late |

## Sources

- [Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs](https://thespacedevs.com): launch names, providers, rockets, pads, dates and status
- [SpaceNexus Launch Ledger (our own record of every date change)](https://spacenexus.us/launch-slips/method)
- [Mission information (link from Launch Library 2)](https://www.spacelaunchnow.me/launch/firefly-alpha-block-2-incus)

## Licence and credits

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- Launch facts (names, providers, rockets, pads, dates, status): Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs (thespacedevs.com), credited and not relicensed by SpaceNexus.
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