Rocket Lab launches 3 'Hawk' satellites to orbit to gather signals intelligence

A three-panel image show a streak shot, engine shot and jellyfish from a rocket launch. — (Image credit: Rocket Lab)

Rocket Lab launched a trio of private signals-intelligence satellites to orbit today (Oct. 23).

The mission lifted off aboard an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand launch site today at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 GMT; 8:11 p.m. local time in New Zealand).

The Electron carried three "Hawk" satellites for the Virginia-based company HawkEye 360, which explains the name Rocket Lab gave to the mission: "We're Not Hawking Around."

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If all goes according to plan, the three Hawks will be deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO), at an altitude of 323 miles (520 kilometers). Once up there and commissioned, the satellites will scan the globe for radio frequency (RF) emissions.

"Operating in clusters of three, HawkEye 360's satellites collect signal data from across the RF spectrum for maritime tracking, GNSS jamming detection, radar monitoring, communications mapping and space defense," Rocket Lab wrote in a mission description.

HawkEye 360 provides this data to the U.S. government and its allies "to enable faster, better decision-making," according to the company. "Our space-based collection, proprietary signal processing and AI-powered analytics transform knowledge of the RF spectrum into a strategic advantage."

a circular mission patch featuring a hawk in front of a yellow sun with the words &quot;We're Not Hawking Around&quot; around the patch's border — The patch for Rocket Lab's "We're Not Hawking Around" mission. (Image credit: Rocket Lab)

HawkEye 360's first satellites launched in 2018, and the company has now sent nearly 50 of them to LEO. The most recent Hawk launch before "We're Not Hawking Around" came just two days ago; three of the satellites went up on SpaceX's Bandwagon-5 rideshare mission.

"We're Not Hawking Around "was Rocket Lab's 98th launch to date and its 19th of 2026 so far. Sixteen of this year's flights have been performed by the two-stage, 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron. The other three have been conducted by HASTE, a suborbital variant of Electron that allows customers to test technologies in a hypersonic flight environment.

Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.