Rocket Lab's 98th Launch Puts Three Satellites in 520 km Orbit

Rocket Lab executed its 98th launch on October 23 when an Electron rocket lifted off from its New Zealand facility. The vehicle departed at 3:11 a.m. EDT, which corresponded to 8:11 p.m. local time. This mission marked the company's 19th launch of the 2026 calendar year.

The payload consisted of three HawkEye 360 satellites. Rocket Lab named the mission "We're Not Hawking Around" in reference to the customer's hardware. The spacecraft are designed to operate in clusters of three to collect radio frequency data across the spectrum.

HawkEye 360, a Virginia-based company, stated that its satellites support maritime tracking, GNSS jamming detection, radar monitoring, communications mapping, and space defense. The firm provides this data to the U.S. government and allied nations. The company said its goal is to enable faster and better decision-making through space-based collection and AI-powered analytics.

The three spacecraft are targeted for a low Earth orbit altitude of 520 kilometers, or 323 miles. After commissioning, they will begin scanning the planet for radio emissions. This deployment occurred two days after SpaceX launched three similar HawkEye satellites on its Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission.

HawkEye 360 has placed nearly 50 satellites in orbit since its first launch in 2018. Rocket Lab's 2026 launch record includes 16 flights using the 59-foot-tall Electron rocket. The remaining three missions utilized HASTE, a suborbital variant of the Electron that tests technology in hypersonic flight conditions.