Rocket Lab launched a private Earth observation radar satellite into orbit today (December 21), the company’s final mission in a busy 2024.
one electronic The rocket takes off from rocket labA mission called “Owl The Way Up” was launched today at 9:16 AM ET (1416 GMT; 3:16 AM local time in New Zealand on December 22).
The name is a reference to the payload – one from Japanese company Synspective Strix radar imaging satellite. (Owls are a widespread genus of owls.)
Everything went according to plan: The Electron satellite deployed the Strix satellite to its target orbit 357 miles (574 kilometers) above Earth about 54.5 minutes after launch, according to the company.
Related: Rocket Lab launches 5 IoT satellites in landmark 50th mission (Video)
“Every launch this year was 100% successful. Congratulations to the team and thank you to all our customers flying with us in 2024. Looking ahead to 2025…” Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab Say through X Shortly after the payload is deployed.
Synspective has booked a total of 16 Electron launches to build the Strix constellation low earth orbitRocket Lab wrote in a report that it is a “synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite system designed to provide images that can detect millimeter-scale changes in the Earth’s surface from space.” Mission statement.
“Owl Ascends” is the sixth of these 16 missions.
Rocket Lab has launched a total of 55 Electron missions to date, including 14 this year. The company also conducted three flights rapidlya suborbital version of the Electron, used as a testbed for hypersonic technology.
Owl The Way Up was originally scheduled to launch on Friday (December 20), but the attempt was canceled due to sensor issues.
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 9:45 a.m. ET on December 20 to reflect frosting conditions. Updated again at 10:55 a.m. ET on December 21, announcing the successful launch and payload deployment.