TOKYO — Synspective, a Japanese company developing a radar imaging constellation, has signed an agreement with Exolaunch to launch 10 of the company’s satellites.
Executives with Exolaunch and Synspective formally signed the agreement during the Spacetide conference here July 9. The contract covers launches of 10 satellites starting in 2027.
Exolaunch, a launch services provider that arranges launches of satellites on vehicles such as Falcon 9 rideshare missions, will handle mission management and deployment services for Synspective’s StriX series of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, identifying the best options for launching those satellites as needed.
Synspective has launched six satellites to date, most recently in December. The company has exclusively used Rocket Lab’s Electron for deploying its satellites, signing a contract in June 2024 for 10 Electron launches from 2025 through 2027.
That contract alone is not enough to deploy Synspective’s full constellation of 30 satellites by late this decade. Motoyuki Arai, founder and chief executive of Synspective, said after the signing ceremony that the company was seeing strong demand for SAR imagery from the Japanese government as well as commercial customers.
“We have to expand the satellite constellation immediately, but the problem in the launch services market is the shortage of launch opportunities,” he said. “It’s very tough to find the appropriate opportunities.”
While Synspective signed a contract directly with SpaceX in March for launching two StriX satellites on a Falcon 9 rideshare mission in 2027, Arai said it made sense to work with Exolaunch to mor effectively identify and manage future launch opportunities.
“We want to provide as many options for schedule, orbit, pricing and launch location for Synspective,” said Kier Fortier, vice president of global business development at Exolaunch, at the signing ceremony.
Although Exolaunch had made extensive use of SpaceX rideshare missions, he said the company will look beyond that for the best options for Synspective. “I think the SpaceX rideshare program has been amazing. I think it’s been fundamental for the industry. But we’re expanding beyond that.”
The signing of the Synspective agreement coincided with the opening of an Exolaunch office in Tokyo that will work with customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Ichitaro Arisaka, head of Exolaunch Japan and previously a satellite designer that worked with Exolaunch on missions, said the new office should be able to more efficiently work with customers, particularly in Japan.
Arai noted that many prospective customers in the Asia Pacific region, particularly startups and universities, have limited expertise in space and often are in countries without a traditional space industry. “The selection of the rocket is tough work for startup companies and academic players,” he said.
“Startup companies may not be aware of what goes into a launch and planning a launch, and we want to do that for our clients,” Fortier added.