American aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider Rocket Lab is set to launch a new commercial radar-imaging satellite on Monday.
The “Owl Night Long” mission will deliver Japanese company Synspective’s StriX-3 satellite to low Earth orbit aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The lift off is expected to be from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 10.13 a.m. EDT (7.43 p.m. IST), the company said.
Tokyo-based Synspective is a satellite data solutions provider.
“Space awaits StriX-3…but the wait is almost over! We’re less than 12 hours away from our 45th Electron launch,” Rocket wrote in a post on X.
The StriX-3 satellite is part of Synspective’s constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites.
“SAR is an active system that transmits microwave pulses toward the Earth’s surface and receives the reflected signals to create an image of the target area,” Rocket Lab said.
The satellite can also “penetrate clouds and other atmospheric conditions, enabling it to collect data day or night with frequent revisit rates”.
The deployment is part of a continuing multi-launch agreement between the two companies. The “Owl Night Long” mission will be Rocket Lab’s fourth launch for the constellation operator following launches in 2020 and 2022, the company said.
