Rocket Lab Successfully Launches Third Mission for iQPS in Multi-Launch Contract, Sets Schedule For the Next iQPS Mission

Business Wire

17-05-2025

MAHIA, New Zealand--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ('Rocket Lab' or 'the Company'), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its third mission for Japanese customer, Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS).
'The Sea God Sees' mission successfully launched on Electron from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand at 8:17 p.m. NZT on May 17th, 2025. The mission carried iQPS' QPS-SAR-10, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth-imaging satellite, to a 575km low Earth orbit, where it was deployed as part of iQPS' growing constellation. The mission was launched just weeks' after Rocket Lab's previous launch for iQPS was deployed on March 15, 2025 – demonstrating frequent, reliable, and dedicated small orbital launch for satellite operators with 100% mission success in 2025.
Today's mission was the third overall launch for iQPS and the second in a multi-launch contract to launch eight missions for the company in 2025 and 2026. Four more launches are scheduled for launch this year, with the remaining two scheduled for 2026. Rocket Lab's next mission for iQPS is scheduled to launch in less than a month's time, from no earlier than June 2025.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: 'Another fantastic launch by the Electron team to flawlessly deliver another iQPS mission to orbit. Constellation deployment requires a reliable rocket with pinpoint orbital deployment accuracy that allows for the seamless integration of the latest spacecraft to the constellation – and that's exactly the service Electron continues to provide as the global leading launcher for small satellite missions. With another mission lined up with iQPS in just a few short weeks, we're looking forward to supporting their constellation with multiple missions this year and next.'
iQPS CEO, Dr. Shunsuke Onishi, says: 'We are truly delighted to have successfully launched our 10th satellite, 'WADATSUMI-I,' into orbit just two months after the launch of our QPS-SAR-9 'SUSANOO-I.' This achievement is a remarkable milestone to the outstanding technical capabilities of our development team, and we are deeply grateful to Rocket Lab team for enabling such a precise and agile launch. With more Electron launches ahead, we're more committed than ever to accelerating the buildout of our satellite constellation, and we look forward to continuing this powerful partnership.'
Launch images:
Launch webcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ikgtJOeDW4
About Rocket Lab
Founded in 2006, Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company with an established track record of mission success. We deliver reliable launch services, satellite manufacture, spacecraft components, and on-orbit management solutions that make it faster, easier, and more affordable to access space. Headquartered in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and manufactures the Electron small orbital launch vehicle, a family of flight-proven spacecraft, and the Company is developing the large Neutron launch vehicle for constellation deployment. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, Rocket Lab's Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually and has delivered more than 200 satellites to orbit for private and public sector organizations, enabling operations in national security, scientific research, space debris mitigation, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch pads at two launch sites, including two launch pads at a private orbital launch site located in New Zealand and a third launch pad in Virginia. To learn more, visit www.rocketlabusa.com.
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