Rocket Lab has signed a multi-year deal to fly 20 more Electron rockets for Tokyo-based Synspective, the largest commercial launch contract in Electron's history. Each mission will carry one StriX radar satellite to a sun-synchronous orbit, where a satellite crosses the same latitude at the same local time every day. All 20 lift off from Launch Complex 1, with flights scheduled in every year from 2028 through 2031.
Rocket Lab says the agreement lifts Synspective's total to 47 Electron missions, more than any other customer of the company. Simple subtraction puts the count before this deal at 27. Rocket Lab did not disclose a contract value, so the size of the deal can be measured in launches but not in dollars.
Cadence is what Synspective is buying. Spread evenly across the four years, 20 flights average five a year, and every one of them is a radar satellite. StriX spacecraft image with synthetic aperture radar, which builds a picture from reflected microwaves rather than sunlight, so darkness and cloud do not block the view. Synspective's stated aim is a constellation that can image any location on Earth within hours, day or night, in any weather.
Rocket Lab frames the contract as proof that constellation builders prefer a dedicated rocket to a shared ride. CEO Sir Peter Beck called the signing "a massive vote of confidence" in Electron's launch rate, reliability and orbital precision. Synspective CEO Motoyuki Arai said the 20 flights give his company "long-term certainty" while it expands the constellation.
The company adds that the deal is the latest in a string of multi-launch contracts and that its backlog now tops 100 missions. Twenty of those missions are this single contract. That is a long runway for one customer, and the first of the 20 flights is not scheduled until 2028.
