NASA teams working on the INCUS (Investigation of Convective Updrafts) mission have progressed through assembly and testing of its three SmallSats, which are designed to study tropical convective storms from space. According to NASA and Phys.org, two of the SmallSats have already been assembled and tested, while work continues on the third unit. Testing on the remaining satellite is scheduled to be completed no earlier than September, which sets the pace for the mission’s overall integration and readiness leading into launch preparations. NASA reports that one of the three satellites completed testing in late May 2026 at the facilities of Blue Canyon Technologies in Lafayette, Colorado, where it underwent preparation activities ahead of launch.
INCUS is described as the first space-based survey aimed at observing the dynamics of tropical convective storms. The mission’s target launch timeframe is 2027. The updates provided focus on hardware readiness—assembly and subsystem testing—rather than on scientific results, which are expected after the satellites reach orbit.
