The Owl’s Night Begins – Spaceflight Now

May 1, 2026

Breaking News

[ April 29, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9
[ April 29, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 6-ton ViaSat-3 F3 satellite on Falcon Heavy rocket Falcon Heavy
[ April 28, 2026 ] Launch preview: SpaceX seeks second attempt at Falcon Heavy launch following weather scrub on Monday Falcon Heavy
[ April 27, 2026 ] ULA launches 29 Amazon Leo satellites on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Atlas 5
[ April 27, 2026 ] SpaceX scrubs Falcon Heavy launch of final ViaSat-3 satellite due to poor weather Falcon Heavy

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.