Long Beach, California. February 9, 2021. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced the launch window for a dedicated Electron mission for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective. The 14-day launch window opens February 28th NZT and will lift-off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Originally slated to launch after Rocket Lab’s next mission for another customer, Rocket Lab has brought the Synspective mission forward in the manifest to accommodate shifts in customer timelines.
‘The Owl’s Night Continues’ is the first of three dedicated Electron missions for Synspective, with two scheduled to launch in 2022 and a third 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.
‘The Owl’s Night Continues’ mission follows on from Rocket Lab’s first launch for Synspective in December 2020. That 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.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck says that the ability to bring a mission forward and adjust schedules at short notice to meet unique customer requirements is a rare capability only made possible by operating a private launch site.
“We designed Electron and our launch complexes to provide satellite operators with a high level of flexibility, enabling our customers to launch on their schedule. With a production line of flight-ready rockets and multiple launch pads, we can run concurrent launch campaigns ensuring that if an individual customer needs to accelerate or delay missions, we can shuffle accordingly and keep our overall manifest on schedule. We are delighted to accommodate Synspective’s launch requirements and once again provide them with tailored access to orbit.”
About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, spacecraft components, satellites and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle and the Photon satellite platform and is developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered 109 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand, one of which is currently operational, and a second launch site in Virginia, USA which is expected to become operational in 2022.
Source: Rocket Lab
