Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Second Mission for Synspective, Deploys 110th Satellite to Orbit

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Rocket Lab USA, Inc, a leading launch and space systems company, has successfully deployed a second Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite to orbit for data and solutions provider Synspective, bringing the total number of satellites deployed by Rocket Lab to 110. “The Owl’s Night Continues” mission is Rocket Lab’s 24th Electron launch.

“The Owl’s Night Continues” mission was the first to launch from Rocket Lab’s second pad at Launch Complex 1, Pad B, on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. Following lift-off at 20:37 UTC, Feb. 28, 2022, Electron successfully delivered the StriX-? satellite, growing Synspective’s SAR constellation. The planned constellation of 30 satellites is designed 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.

“The Owl’s Night Continues” follows on from Rocket Lab’s first launch for Synspective in December 2020, called “The Owl’s Night Begins.” Today’s mission was the first mission as part of a three-launch contract signed with Synspective in late 2021. Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch another Synspective mission in 2022 and the third in 2023.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, says: “Congratulations to the team at Synspective for the successful deployment of the second satellite in their constellation. We are proud to continue our partnership with Synspective and to have provided flexibility around launch timing. We look forward to our upcoming missions with Synspective as they grow their SAR constellation.”

Synspective founder and CEO, Dr Motoyuki Arai, says: “We thank both Rocket Lab and Synspective members for their diligence and teamwork to successfully put StriX-? into orbit promptly despite unforeseen circumstances and challenges due to the ongoing pandemic. With the successful insertion of our second SAR satellite, we will be able to improve our technology for operating multiple satellites and strengthen our data services. With this achievement, we will accelerate the expansion of a thirty SAR satellite constellation and enhance our data analysis technology to realize a “learning world” for a sustainable future. 

The mission was the first to employ the new Pad B launch pad at Launch Complex 1, which is the company’s third pad globally. By operating two pads at Launch Complex 1, Rocket Lab can eliminate pad recycle time between missions to support more frequent and responsive launch capabilities.

Details about Rocket Lab’s next planned launch will be announced shortly.