The Wallops Island, Virginia launch boosts revisit rates for global high-demand regions
Herndon, Virginia (January 24, 2022) — HawkEye 360 Inc., the world’s leading commercial provider of space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced today that its Cluster 6 next-generation satellites have successfully deployed to orbit aboard the inaugural Rocket Lab Electron flight from Launch Complex 2 at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Communication with the satellites has been established by the company’s operations team. This is the first of three dedicated Rocket Lab USA Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) flights contracted by HawkEye 360.
“We are happy to report that our Cluster 6 next-generation satellites have reached orbit and we look forward to ramping up operations in the weeks ahead and fully integrating them into our constellation,” said HawkEye 360 CEO, John Serafini. “We are grateful for our valued mission partners, Rocket Lab and the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, who worked alongside our fantastic HawkEye 360 team to make this inaugural Virginia launch a success.”
“We’re immensely proud to have delivered mission success for HawkEye 360,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck. “With Launch Complex 2, we set out to create a new path to orbit from U.S. soil after more than 30 Electron launches from New Zealand, and what could be more fitting for the first Virginia mission than launching a Virginia-built satellite? We couldn’t ask for better mission partners in HawkEye 360 and Virginia Space, and we look forward to many more missions together.”
“It is an honor for Virginia Space to partner with HawkEye 360, a Virginia-based company, and launch such an important payload into orbit from our Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport,” said Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority CEO and Executive Director Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer, Jr. “Collaboration across different sectors of the space industry is key to ensure access to space for our nation. This is a historic moment for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we look forward to future launches with Hawkeye 360 and Rocket Lab.”
The Cluster 6 trio of satellites will be the first in the HawkEye constellation to enter an inclined orbit, boosting revisit rates over the mid-latitude regions of the globe. Once Cluster 6 achieves initial operating capability, HawkEye 360 will be able to collect RF data as frequently as once per hour anywhere on Earth, enabling the company to offer the most timely and actionable RF data and data analytics available on the market.
This successful launch expands HawkEye 360’s constellation to 18 satellites with expanded and improved data collection in the 15 -18 GHz range, exposing new and meaningful insights for customers. These second-generation Cluster 6 satellites hold two payloads for system redundancy and are each equipped to collect VHF, UHF, X-Band, L-Band, S-Band, X-Band, and GPS Interference signals.