Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (“Rocket Lab” or the “Company”) a leading launch provider and space systems company, has announced it has signed a deal with Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective to carry out three dedicated Electron launches.
Also Read: Teledyne Completes Delivery of Flight Detectors to the Roman Space Telescope
The first two missions are scheduled for lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in 2022, with a third to follow in 2023. Each mission will deploy a single StriX satellite, growing Synspective’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation developed to deliver imagery that can detect millimetre-level changes to the Earth’s surface from space, independent of weather conditions on Earth and at any time of the day or night.
These new missions follow on from Rocket Lab’s first launch for Synspective in December 2020. The mission, named ‘The Owl’s Night Begins’, saw Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle deploy the StriX-α satellite – the first spacecraft in Synspective’s planned constellation of more than 30 SAR satellites designed to collate data of metropolitan centers on a daily basis to support urban development planning, construction and infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response.
During ‘The Owl’s Night Begins’ mission Rocket Lab performed an advanced mid-mission maneuver with its Kick Stage to shield the StriX satellite from the sun to reduce radiation exposure ahead of payload deployment. The Kick Stage will once again perform the maneuver for the new upcoming missions. Flying as a dedicated mission means the StriX satellites will be the only payload on board Electron, giving Synspective control over launch schedule and enabling specific LTANs1 not achievable when flying as one of many satellites on large rideshare missions.
Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive, Peter Beck, says: “We’re honored the Synspective team has once again chosen Electron to grow their StriX constellation. We recognize the importance of dedicated orbits and custom mission parameters for constellations, and we’re delighted to deliver a tailored launch and integration service to the Synspective team once again.”