The Owl’s Night Begins – Spaceflight Now

September 2, 2026

Breaking News

[ September 1, 2026 ] SpaceX to launch Starlink mission from West Coast Falcon 9
[ August 29, 2026 ] Roman Space Telescope, NASA’s next ‘great observatory,’ launched Falcon Heavy
[ August 25, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Falcon 9
[ August 24, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Starlink mission on a Falcon booster’s record-breaking 37th flight Falcon 9
[ August 21, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 100th orbital mission of 2026 Falcon 9

Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective’s first radar satellite

December 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Japanese radar satellite

December 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched a radar imaging satellite Tuesday for the Japanese company Synspective. The small Earth observation payload lifted off from New Zealand at 5:09 a.m. EST (1009 GMT) aboard an Electron rocket. Rocket Lab did not attempt to recover the Electron’s first stage on this mission.