NASA has launched two small satellites to help track tropical cyclones from a base in New Zealand.

In a bid to improve weather predictions for devastating storms, the new storm trackers, sent into orbit on a Rocket Lab-built rocket, can fly over hurricanes or typhoons every hour, compared to every six hours with current satellites. 

This new technology is designed to allow researchers to see storms evolve on an hourly basis, providing vital information on rainfall, temperature, and humidity. 

The TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) mission's first launch was marked at a press conference this week. 

Speaking to reporters, NASA scientist Will McCarty said: “We still need the large satellites. What we get from this is the ability to add more information to the flagship satellites that we already have.” 

A second Rocket Lab-built vessel is due to launch in two weeks, carrying two more satellites to complete a small constellation of four storm-tracking satellites.

The information gathered by these satellites could help scientists determine where a hurricane will make landfall and how intense it will be, helping people living in coastal areas to be better prepared for possible evacuations. 

“Many operational organisations like the National Hurricane Centre and the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre and many others are ready to receive tropical imagery to help inform their forecasters,” said Ben Kim, a program executive at NASA.

While the constellation was originally intended to have six satellites, not four, the first two were lost when a US Astra rocket malfunctioned shortly after lift-off last year. 

Hurricanes and typhoons are becoming more powerful as the ocean surface warms, scientists say.

NASA hopes that this project will lead to a better understanding of the formation and evolution of these storms, which in the long-term could help improve climate models. 

Hurricane Ian, which devastated Florida in 2022, killed dozens of people and caused more than US$100 billion (AU$147 billion) in damage, making it by far the world's most expensive weather disaster of the year. 

With the launch of the new satellites, NASA is hoping to reduce the risk of such disasters in the future.