Rocket Lab has launched Synspective’s 12th StriX synthetic aperture radar satellite on the Owl By The Dozen mission from Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand, placing the spacecraft into a precise 572 km low-Earth orbit. The flight, carried out on 19 September, was Rocket Lab’s 96th Electron mission and its 17th launch of 2026, extending the company’s track record on dedicated small-satellite deployment.
The mission formed part of Rocket Lab’s ongoing multi-launch contract with the Japanese Earth-observation company, which is building out a commercial SAR constellation for monitoring land, infrastructure and disaster response. Rocket Lab has now completed 12 dedicated Electron launches for Synspective, with all missions in the partnership reaching orbit successfully.
Rocket Lab also has 15 further dedicated Electron missions for Synspective manifested through the end of the decade, underscoring the sustained cadence of the launcher’s small-satellite business. The latest flight adds another spacecraft to Synspective’s operational network while keeping Electron busy on repeat customer missions from its New Zealand spaceport.