The largest Electron launch agreement in the Rocket Lab’s history; a ten-launch deal with Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, was announced in Tokyo at an event attended by Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck, Synspective founder and CEO Dr. Motoyuki Arai and New Zealand Prime Minister, the Right Honorable Christopher Luxon, who is in Japan with a business delegation to deepen ties and accelerate growth in technology and other sectors.
"We will continue to build an analytics platform that enables visualization and analysis of global environmental and economic activities, starting with constructing a SAR satellite constellation."
Dr. Motoyuki Arai, Synspective
Rocket Lab has been the sole launch provider for Synspective since 2020, successfully launching four missions for the Japanese Earth observation company to date.
Rocket Lab has been launching for Synspective since 2020 when the Company deployed the first satellite in Synspective’s synthetic aperture radar (SAR) constellation, which is designed to deliver imagery that can detect millimeter-level changes to the Earth’s surface from space. Since that first mission, Rocket Lab has been the sole launch provider for Synspective’s StriX constellation to date, successfully deploying four StriX satellites across four dedicated Electron launches. In addition to the 10 new dedicated launches signed today, another two launches for Synspective have already been booked and are scheduled for launch this year from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The launches in the new deal will take place across 2025 – 2027.
By launching as the sole payload on Electron, Synspective has control over the launch schedule as well as the precise deployment parameters for each satellite, enabling them to build their constellation out on their terms and maximize the coverage they can provide to their end customers.
“Japan’s space industry is one of the fastest growing globally and we’re excited to be enabling this growth through the unique collaboration of a U.S. rocket and a New Zealand launch site, delivering an unprecedented level of tailored access to orbit for Japanese small satellites,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck.
"This agreement gives us a solid foundation and confidence, as Rocket Lab is an innovative launch provider. We look to accelerate building our satellite constellation and expand our services in the future," said Synspective founder and CEO, Dr. Motoyuki Arai. "We appreciate Rocket Lab's significant role in moving our business forward. We will continue to build an analytics platform that enables visualization and analysis of global environmental and economic activities, starting with constructing a SAR satellite constellation. These efforts will help make human activities sustainable for our generation and address the challenges of a changing global environment and depleting resources.”
Synspective's small SAR satellites, StriX, are equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor, which can observe the Earth's surface in any weather condition day or night. Not affected by clouds or rain, SAR is suitable for persistent monitoring of disasters and detailed changes to secure critical infrastructure and other facilities. Example use cases include;
detecting anomalies in road, rail, energy and other infrastructure, resulting in lower maintenance costs and accident risk,
monitoring crop growth conditions and analyzing soil and vegetation health to help reduce costs and increase efficiency for farmers,
detecting illegal logging and fishing in the most remote parts of the world,
providing rapid damage assessment after flooding, landslides and volcanic eruptions, as well as risk assessment for land subsidence,
enabling the persistent monitoring of maritime traffic, border activities and other potential security threats, and advances maritime domain awareness,
analyzing tree cover to calculate CO2 absorption and carbon credits.