Rocket Lab Deploys New StriX SAR Satellite for Synspective

On Friday, December 22, 2024 (in New Zealand), Rocket Lab launched the “Owl The Way Up” Mission for Synspective, from Launch Complex 1 – Pad B, Mahia, NZ.

Lift-off! We’re going #OwlTheWayUp pic.twitter.com/ZZXnCFfxhd

— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) December 21, 2024

At 03:17 a.m. NZT (14:17, December 21 UTC), the Synspective satellite took off on top of an Electron rocket. It joined the company’s constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Mission Overview

“Owl The Way Up” is the sixth out of a total of 16 booked missions on board a Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle from Synspective – a Japanese Earth observation company. The first launch – “The Owl’s Night Begins”- for the Japanese space company was in December 2020.

Two and a half minutes into the flight the booster separated from the second stage. The latter released the kick stage with the payload nearly six and a half minutes later. After less than one hour from the lift-off, a single StriX satellite has been successfully deployed to a 574 km-high circular orbit to join the existing Synspective constellation of SAR satellites.

Payload deployed. Mission success for Owl The Way Up. Welcome to orbit once again, @Synspective. pic.twitter.com/sle8NdFkep

— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) December 21, 2024

This was the 16th overall Electron launch of the year, amply surpassing the previous record of 10 missions in 2023.

The payload

StriX is a small and low-cost Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite that was jointly developed by Synspective, the University of Tokyo, the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Equipped with a foldable antenna that is 5m in size when deployed, a high-output 1kW amplifier, and a high-capacity battery, StriX provides an observable area that is two to ten times larger than that of other satellites.

The constellation

StriX‘s SAR satellites are designed to provide advanced Earth imagery. They can detect millimeter-level changes to the elevation or shape of the surface from space.

With an emphasis on cost and delivery time reduction, this technology aims to monitor ground changes during disasters, such as earthquakes and floods. It is also capable of operating at night. In addition to that, satellite data is also used to promote natural resource exploitation in terms of urban development. Specifically, it can identify weaknesses in infrastructures and prevent potential failures. Synspective’s services also address defense requirements and enable persistent monitoring of marine traffic and border activities.

One of the focuses of the constellation is to maximize coverage. Thus, the use of a sun-synchronous orbit for each consecutive SAR satellite is the key to ensure global reach. This type of orbit enables each of them to overfly and control the same area of interest every few days. This approach allows consecutive satellites to capture and provide imaging one after the other, thus avoiding blind spots. The key advantage compared to traditional large SAR satellites is the feasibility of developing and launching multiple smaller satellites for the same cost as a single large satellite.

This technology offers several advantages over large SAR satellites. These include increased power, reduced dimensions (1/10 the mass of conventional large satellites), greater use of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, higher imaging capabilities, larger coverage, advanced thermal control, and consequently reduced costs.

You can find more about the objectives and solutions of the Japanese company in our interview with Mr.Motoyuki Arai, Founder & CEO of Synspective Inc. at the World Space Business Week.

^{Cover image credits: Rocket Lab}