Rocket Lab Electron Launches 13th StriX SAR Satellite Serving Japan's MoD

Rocket Lab's Electron launched Synspective's 13th StriX synthetic-aperture-radar satellite from Mahia into a 559-kilometer low-Earth orbit. The mission was Electron's 97th overall and its 18th launch of 2026, continuing a perfect record across thirteen dedicated flights for the Japanese customer. StriX provides day-and-night, all-weather imagery, and the commercial constellation contributes data to a Japanese Ministry of Defense project, but the satellite itself should not be described as Ministry-owned. Synspective ultimately plans a constellation of roughly thirty spacecraft by the end of the decade for more frequent coverage.