Rocket Lab says Electron launched three HawkEye 360 satellites on its 98th mission

What happened. Rocket Lab says its Electron rocket launched three HAWK satellites for HawkEye 360 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 8:11 p.m. NZDT on Oct. 23, 2026 (07:11 UTC; 1:11 a.m. MDT). The company says the satellites were delivered to a 520 km low Earth orbit.

Details. The mission was named “We’re Not Hawking Around.” Rocket Lab says it was the 98th Electron launch overall, the company’s 19th launch of 2026, and the third Electron launch dedicated to HawkEye 360’s radio-frequency (RF) sensing satellites. According to the release, HawkEye 360 operates the satellites in a three-satellite formation that collects RF signal data for maritime tracking, GNSS jamming detection, radar monitoring, communications mapping and space defense.

Rocket Lab’s mission pages list two more Electron launches for radar-imaging company iQPS, each with a no-earlier-than date and the launch time still to be announced: “The Sea God Surveys” (Nov. 4) and “The Mountain God Rises” (Nov. 10). Separately, Rocket Lab said on Oct. 14 that the first launch of its Neutron medium-lift rocket is now expected in 2027.

Why it’s notable. Rocket Lab’s next two scheduled Electron launches would be the rocket’s 99th and 100th.