Electron launches third iQPS satellite in three months

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched a radar imaging satellite for Japanese company iQPS June 11, the third launch for that customer within three months.

A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1, Pad A, at 11:31 a.m. Eastern. Rocket Lab confirmed successful deployment of the payload, QPS-SAR-11, nearly an hour later, placing the satellite into a circular 575-kilometer orbit at an inclination of 42 degrees.

The customer, iQPS, said it made contact with the satellite 35 minutes after deployment and confirmed it was working well.

The satellite is the latest for Japanese company iQPS, or Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space. That company is developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar imaging satellites. The company has eight operational satellites, with plans to grow its constellation to 24 satellites by 2027 and ultimately to 36 spacecraft.

This is the fourth iQPS satellite launched by Electron and the third in three months, after launches March 14 and May 17. An Electron also launched an iQPS satellite in December 2023.

The last three launches are part of a multi-launch contract that includes a total of eight launches, extending into 2026.

This was the eighth launch so far this year for Rocket Lab and the second in as many weeks, after the launch of a BlackSky imaging satellite June 2. This latest launch continues a trend of Rocket Lab launching satellites for companies deploying constellations that include, besides iQPS and BlackSky, Japanese radar imaging company Synspective, French Internet-of-Things company Kinéis and German wildfire tracking company OroraTech.

Rocket Lab executives previous stated that they project conducting more than 20 Electron launches this year, which include flights of the HASTE suborbital variant of Electron. The company expects to increase its launch cadence in the second half of the year.