Rocket Lab launches private Japanese 'Strix' satellite

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launches on the "Eight Days A Week" mission from New Zealand on March 20, 2026. — (Image credit: Rocket Lab)

Rocket Lab - 'Eight Days A Week' Launch - YouTube

Rocket Lab launched an Earth-observing radar satellite for the Japanese company Synspective on Friday (March 20).

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The Tokyo-based company is building "a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging constellation over Japan that provides data for urban development planning, construction and infrastructure monitoring and disaster response," Rocket Lab wrote in a mission description.

Rocket Lab has been the sole launch provider to date for the Strix constellation, whose first satellite went up in 2020. ("Strix," in case you were wondering, is a widespread genus of owls.) Synspective has booked another 20 Electron launches, including "Eight Days a Week," to finishing assembling the constellation by 2029, according to Rocket Lab.

"Eight Days a Week" is the 77th launch to date for the 59-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) Electron, which debuted with a test flight in May 2017.

Rocket Lab has also launched seven missions with HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron that allows customers to test hypersonic technologies in the space environment.

Payload deployment of the StriX satellite occurred about 50 minutes after launch, placing the spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:10 p.m. EDT on March 20 with news of a successful payload deployment.

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.