The Owl's Night Begins
The Owl's Night Begins was a Rocket Lab Electron mission for Synspective that launched successfully at 10:09 UTC on 15 December 2020 (11:09 p.m. NZDT on 15 December; 5:09 a.m. EST on 15 December) from Launch Complex 1A on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
10:09 UTC on 15 December 2020 · 11:09 p.m. NZDT on 15 December · 5:09 a.m. EST on 15 December
Disclaimer: This livestream is from a third-party channel and is not an official Rocket Lab broadcast.
Mission State
This mission currently has a dated launch window in the tracker.
The current watch link is from a third-party source rather than Rocket Lab directly.
Launch Updates
-
New launch date
by Cosmic_Penguin Source: twitter.com -
Launch is NET Dec 14 UTC due to weather
by spacevogel Source: twitter.com -
Updated launch windows/time
by scottm3 Source: twitter.com
Updates via Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs).
Name Origin
Strix is the scientific genus name for owls. The name celebrates Synspective's first SAR satellite, which — like an owl — sees clearly at night and through any weather.
Mission Overview
StriX-α is a demonstration mission for Japanese company Synspective which plans to deploy a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. For this mission, Rocket Lab will utilize a custom expanded fairing to encompass Synspective’s wide-body satellite – the first use of the expanded fairing options that Rocket Lab recently introduced.
Technical Details
60
kiwis- https://www.rocketlabusa.com/assets/Uploads/Flight-17-Press-Kit2.pdf rocketlabusa.com
- The Owl's Night Begins rocketlabusa.com
Launch data cross-checked against Wikipedia.
Was this a jellyfish launch?
LowSun 21° below the horizon at liftoff — dark at the pad, only the upper stage might catch sunlight.
Details
- Unlikely
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Liftoff
- 11:09 p.m. NZDT · 10:09 UTC
- Sunset
- 8:31 p.m. NZDT · 07:31 UTC
- Civil dusk (−6°)
- 9:03 p.m. NZDT · 08:03 UTC
- Nautical dusk (−12°)
- 9:44 p.m. NZDT · 08:44 UTC
- Astronomical dusk (−18°)
- 10:31 p.m. NZDT · 09:31 UTC
Twilight times at the pad (Mahia, NZ) for the evening of the launch.
What's a rocket jellyfish? When a rocket launches in twilight, the ground is dark but its exhaust plume climbs into sunlight high above. The expanding plume glows against the dark sky in a jellyfish-like shape.
Space-Object Catalog
| Object | Operator | Built by | Mass | Orbit | Status | NORAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
StriX-Alpha 2020-098A · Payload | Operator Synspective Inc. | Built by Synspective Inc. StriX | Mass 150 kg | Orbit 149 × 156 km · 97.2° | Status Decayed 2023-10-27 | NORAD 47253 |
Electron 17 Kick Stage 2020-098B · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Kick Stage | Mass 40 kg | Orbit 150 × 155 km · 97.2° | Status Decayed 2024-01-10 | NORAD 47254 |
Electron 17 Stage 2 2020-098C · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Electron St2 | Mass 250 kg | Orbit 116 × 140 km · 97.3° | Status Decayed 2020-12-28 | NORAD 47255 |
