threelonmusketeers[Jeff Foust] Rocket Lab launches eighth Synspective radar imaging satellite
[Jeff Foust] Rocket Lab launches eighth Synspective radar imaging satellite - sh.itjust.works
::: spoiler Article text Jeff Foust 4–5 minutes WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched the latest in a series of satellites for Japanese radar imaging company Synspective on March 20. An Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 2:10 p.m. Eastern and deployed Synspective’s StriX satellite 55 minutes later into a planned orbit at an altitude of 573 kilometers and an inclination of 50.2 degrees. This was the eighth satellite for Synspective, a Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar imaging spacecraft. All of the satellites have been launched on Electron rockets. Four of the first seven Synspective satellites are in operation. Synspective aims to complete a 30-satellite constellation as soon as 2028. Synspective will continue to rely primarily on Electron for deploying that constellation. The company signed a contract for 10 additional Electron launches in September 2025. With previous contracts, it has 19 Electron launches under contract through the end of the decade. Synspective, though, is not relying exclusively on Rocket Lab. The company noted in its annual financial results published in February that it has a launch agreement with SpaceX for five satellites. The company, which launched three satellites in 2024 and one in 2025, stated in its financial results that it expects to have 10 operational satellites by the end of 2026, implying the launch of six satellites this year. The company is scaling up production with a goal of producing 12 satellites a year starting in 2026. Synspective reported total revenue of 6.14 billion yen ($38.5 million) in 2025 and an operating loss of 4.14 billion yen. The company’s revenue more than doubled from 2024, but the increase came almost entirely from government subsidies in the form of awards from Japanese government agencies. That included one from Japan’s Space Strategy Fund with a total value of 16.46 billion yen over several years to support increased satellite production. The company is also part of a satellite constellation project for Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The ministry awarded a contract to Tri-Sat Constellation, a joint venture of Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Sky Perfect JSAT Corp. and Mitsui & Co., for satellite imagery data. Synspective will provide SAR imagery to Tri-Sat Constellation under a subcontract valued at 96 billion yen over five years. Synspective, while primarily working with Japanese customers, is expanding in Europe. It announced in February an agreement with Airbus Defence and Space, with Airbus agreeing to buy Synspective SAR imagery. Synspective has also established a European subsidiary, Synspective Europe GmbH, based in Munich. The launch was the fifth this year for Electron, including one launch of its HASTE suborbital variant. Another Electron is scheduled to launch March 24 carrying two Celeste navigation demonstration smallsats for the European Space Agency. :::
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