Rocket Lab placed Synspective’s 13th StriX radar satellite into low Earth orbit from New Zealand on September 26, seven days after the 12th deployment. Orbit delivery is the completed step. Synspective says it will test and commission the new craft over the coming months before service begins, so the launch does not yet establish that this satellite is producing operational Earth images.
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket carried Synspective’s 13th StriX satellite from the Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand on September 26 and delivered it to a low Earth orbit at 559 kilometres. The launch came seven days after the preceding StriX deployment. This flight delivered another spacecraft; it did not itself demonstrate that the new satellite is already producing imagery.[1], [2]
StriX is Synspective’s small synthetic aperture radar satellite series. Its radar sends signals toward Earth and uses the returns to image the surface, so the constellation is intended to observe in darkness and through cloud cover. The newly delivered spacecraft enlarges the group in orbit, but an orbit count is separate from the number of satellites that have passed checks and entered operational service.[1], [2]
Synspective says it will test and commission the 13th craft’s observation capability over the coming months before putting it into service. That is the next stated step for this satellite after deployment. The company has confirmed an orbital arrival, not a first image or a completed operational check from StriX-13.[1]
