[[Home|🏠]] <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> <span class="no-hover">[[Launches]]</span> <span style="color: LightSlateGray">></span> 017 - The Owl's Night Begins
>[!success] Mission Success
>[!summary]
Rocket Lab's 17th mission was a dedicated launch for Japanese Earth-imaging company Synspective.
>
The mission was named ‘The Owl’s Night Begins’ in a nod to Synspective’s StriX family of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft developed to be able to image millimetre-level changes to the Earth’s surface from space, independent of weather conditions on Earth and at any time of the day or night. Strix is also the genus of owls.
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The StriX-α satellite onboard this mission was the first of a series of spacecraft deployments for Synspective’s planned constellation of more than 30 SAR small satellites to collate data of metropolitan centers across Asia on a daily basis that can be used for urban development planning, construction and infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response.
>
[📸 Mission Photo Album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocketlab/albums/with/72177720301776244)
#electron #launch #success
| **Mission Name** | The Owl's Night Begins |
| ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Launch Date** | 2020-12-15 10:09 |
| **Outcome** | ✅ Success |
| **Customer** | [[Synspective]] |
| **Location** | [[Launch Complex 1#Launch Pad A]] |
| **Vehicle** | [[Electron]] |
| **Orbit Type** | [[🌍 Orbits#SSO]] |
| **Target Orbit** | 500 km | 97.3° |
| **Payload Mass** | 150 kg |
| **Recovery** | No Attempt |
| **Mission Link** | [The Owl's Night Begins](https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/missions-launched/the-owls-night-begins-2/) |
| **Press Kit** | [Press Kit PDF](https://rocketlabcorp.com/assets/Uploads/Flight-17-Press-Kit2.pdf) |
![[Pasted image 20250406132917.png|300]]
### 📦 Payload
x1 [[Synspective#🛰️ Space Systems#StriX|StriX Series Satellites]] ![[Synspective#🛰️ Space Systems#StriX]]
## 📽️ Launch Video
<div class="responsive-video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AmbjFv3wa68" title="Rocket Lab's Electron - The Owl's Night Begins Mission" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
## 📰 News
%%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start
```
table published as "Published"
from "News"
where contains(mission, [[017 - The Owl's Night Begins]])
sort published desc
```
%%
| File | Published |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- |
| [[News/Rocket Lab Successfully Launches 17th Electron Mission, Deploys SAR Satellite for Synspective.md\|Rocket Lab Successfully Launches 17th Electron Mission, Deploys SAR Satellite for Synspective]] | December 15, 2020 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab to Launch Dedicated Mission for Japanese Earth Imaging Company Synspective.md\|Rocket Lab to Launch Dedicated Mission for Japanese Earth Imaging Company Synspective]] | November 24, 2020 |
| [[News/Rocket Lab to Launch Dedicated Mission for Japanese Space Industry Start-up Company Synspective.md\|Rocket Lab to Launch Dedicated Mission for Japanese Space Industry Start-up Company Synspective]] | April 14, 2020 |
%%DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %%