WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched another radar imaging satellite for Synspective as the company plans to sell up to $3 billion in stock to fund future initiatives.
An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 5:33 a.m. Eastern May 22. The rocket’s payload, a StriX satellite from Japanese company Synspective, separated from the rocket’s kick stage nearly 57 minutes later, entering an orbit at an altitude of 572 kilometers and an inclination of 44.8 degrees.
This was the ninth launch by Electron of a Synspective satellite. The company plans to have a constellation of at least 30 synthetic aperture radar satellites in orbit by 2028, and has contracts for 18 more Electron launches as well as separate agreements to launch seven spacecraft on SpaceX ridesh