Synspective Inc., a SAR satellite data and solutions provider, has revealed their official launch schedule for the company’s second SAR satellite, StriX-β.
The launch window is set during a 14-day launch window that opens on February 28, UTC. Exact lift-off target date and time will be confirmed soon. Please note that the launch may be postponed or canceled due to unforeseen weather conditions or complications.
The mission is scheduled for lift-off from Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle at Rocket Lab Launch Complex on the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The StriX-β will be the only payload with an SSO target orbit at an altitude of 561 km..
StriX-β is the company’s second demonstration satellite following the StriX-α. which was launched in December of 2020. The StriX-β will be launched into a one-day, recurrent, SSO, making it possible to capture particular spots on the Earth at the same time and under the same conditions daily. The company will be able to acquire high-quality data to understand changes and trends at specific locations in the Earth’s surface.
Synspective than plans to launch a commercial prototype satellite, StriX-1 (Strix One), later this year. By 2023, the firm will have six satellites in total, bringing us closer to a planned constellation of 30 satellites that enables wide-area, high-frequency, Earth Observation (EO).
Dr. Motoyuki Arai, Synspective founder and CEO, said, “It is a great honor to collaborate with Rocket Lab again, which is an experienced launch service provider with the successful StriX-α deployment to orbit. We very much appreciate their flexibility and speediness in accepting our requests on the satellite’s orbit and launch period. Synspective has already begun operating its first satellite and providing solution services, and the StriX-β is going to play an essential role in deepening satellite-operation know-how and enable us to expand our business operations. We will accomplish this mission and steadily achieve results to “Learning world” enhancing global efficiency and resilience.”
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) is reporting that the the 14-day launch window opens February 28th UTC 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 said 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.”
