{"id":11955,"date":"2020-12-15T17:04:23","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T09:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rocket-lab-closes-out-year-with-launch-of-synspectives-first-radar-satellite\/"},"modified":"2020-12-15T17:04:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T09:04:23","slug":"rocket-lab-closes-out-year-with-launch-of-synspectives-first-radar-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rocket-lab-closes-out-year-with-launch-of-synspectives-first-radar-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective\u2019s first radar satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Rocket Lab Electron launcher takes off from New Zealand on Tuesday. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rocket Lab\u2019s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world.<\/p>\n

The liquid-fueled Electron rocket\u2019s kick stage deployed Synspective\u2019s StriX-\u03b1 demonstration satellite into a roughly 310-mile-high (500-kilometer) sun-synchronous polar orbit around an hour after liftoff, Rocket Lab said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The 59-foot-tall (18-meter) Electron rocket took off from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula, located on the North Island of New Zealand, at 5:09 a.m. EST (1009 GMT; 11:09 p.m. New Zealand time).<\/p>\n

A live video webcast from Rocket Lab showed the Electron firing into the night sky, heading south from Mahia on a trajectory toward the mission\u2019s targeted orbit.<\/p>\n

Nine Rutherford engines, consuming kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, accelerated the Electron launcher into the upper atmosphere with more than 50,000 pounds of thrust. The first stage shut down and separated about two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, giving way to the Electron\u2019s second stage engine to propel the rocket into a preliminary parking orbit.<\/p>\n

Synspective\u2019s StriX-\u03b1 (StriX-Alpha) spacecraft, weighing approximately 330 pounds (150 kilograms), was fitted inside a custom payload fairing for launch Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The expanded fairing, with four notches to fit the cube-shaped StriX-\u03b1 spacecraft, was the first use of the company\u2019s larger fairing options recently introduced alongside several other vehicle performance improvements. The upgrades include advances in battery technology, enabling the Electron rocket to deliver more massive payloads into orbit.<\/p>\n

With the improvements, the Electron rocket can carry up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms) on missions to low-altitude orbits, or 440 pounds (200 kilograms) to a 310-mile-high sun-synchronous orbits, a destination favored by many Earth observation satellites.<\/p>\n

That represents about a 33 percent increase in payload lift capability. The improvements help offset the effect of adding parachutes and recovery equipment to the Electron\u2019s first stage.<\/p>\n

The StriX-\u03b1 satellite is Synspective\u2019s first synthetic aperture radar satellite. The Tokyo-based company, was established in 2018 and developed its satellite technology with aid from the Japanese government.<\/p>\n

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Synspective\u2019s StriX-\u03b1 satellite is encapsulated inside Rocket Lab\u2019s payload fairing before launch. Credit: Rocket Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Synspective says its planned fleet of 30 radar imaging satellites will primarily be for commercial use surveying cities and urban infrastructure. The company says it has raised $100 million from Japanese investors since its founding nearly three years ago.<\/p>\n

StriX-\u03b1, a demonstrator, is about one-tenth the size of a conventional large radar imaging satellite. Its deployable antenna, which was folded up for launch, measures about 16 feet (5 meters) long.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunctions, including both observation and data acquisition, will be verified over the next several months,\u201d Synspective said in a statement after Tuesday\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n

Synspective is one of several companies planning to build out constellations of radar satellites for Earth-imaging. ICEYE of Finland and California-based Capella Space have already launched multiple small satellites with sophisticated radar payloads.<\/p>\n

Satellites with synthetic aperture radar instruments can image Earth\u2019s surface in day and night. Radar imagers can also peer through clouds and storms that block views from optical cameras.<\/p>\n

The StriX constellation will have a ground resolution of 1 to 3 meters, or 3 to 10 feet, according to Synspective.<\/p>\n

A second StriX satellite, named StriX-\u03b2 (StriX-Beta), will launch in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 2022, Synspective will launch four commercial satellites, aiming to build and operate a system that enables wide-area, high-frequency ground observation with a constellation of 30 satellites,\u201d the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of the StriX-\u03b1 satellite in orbit. Credit: Synspective<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCongratulations to the team at Synspective for the successful deployment of their first satellite,\u201d said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab\u2019s founder and CEO. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be able to continue to provide dedicated launch opportunities for small satellite customers like Synspective. Electron provides truly tailored access to space, enabling our customers to choose exactly when they launch and under their specific mission parameters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the efforts and hard work of both the Rocket Lab and Synspective teams, we were able to achieve a successful launch as scheduled, despite the difficult environment of COVID-19,\u201d said Motoyuki Arai, founder and CEO of Synspective. \u201cWith the launch of StriX-\u03b1, Synspective will be able to demonstrate its satellite capabilities and data processing technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first step towards our constellation of 30 satellites and along with the development of our solutions, a full-scale business expansion will begin,\u201d Arai said in a statement. \u201cStarting with this success, we will move tangibly closer towards the attainment of an advanced world, expanding people\u2019s understanding and learning capabilities with new data and technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab did not attempt to recover the Electron\u2019s first stage Tuesday, following the company\u2019s first successful retrieval of an Electron booster on a previous launch last month. Rocket Lab aims to eventually catch boosters falling under parachutes with a helicopter for refurbishment and reuse.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab plans to resume stage recoveries with the next Electron launch in early 2021.<\/p>\n

The launch Tuesday marked the 17th flight of Rocket Lab\u2019s Electron launcher, and the company\u2019s seventh and final mission of 2020, breaking Rocket Lab\u2019s record of six missions in 2019.<\/p>\n

Rocket Lab says its plans for 2021 include even more flights, with the company\u2019s first mission from a new launch site at Wallops Island, Virginia, more booster recovery attempts, and the launch of a small NASA satellite to the moon.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Rocket Lab Electron launcher takes off from New Zealand on Tuesday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab\u2019s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,1715,159,545,377,25,1593,1595],"class_list":["post-11955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-curie","tag-earth-observation","tag-electron","tag-japan","tag-launch","tag-launch-complex-1","tag-mahia-peninsula"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}