California firm Rocket Lab launches third satellite for Japanese company
Mission success for Electron's 64th launch! See ya later to "The Sea God Sees" and welcome to space again @QPS_Inc. pic.twitter.com/ndJLeF8pYG— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) May 17, 2025
May 17 (UPI) -- American aerospace firm Rocket Lab on Saturday carried a successful launch mission from its facility in New Zealand.
The California-based publicly-traded company completed its third mission for Japanese firm the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, using one its partially-reusable Electron orbital launch vehicle.
"Another fantastic launch by the Electron team to flawlessly deliver another iQPS mission to orbit," Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement on the company's website.
"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."
The mission delivered a synthetic aperture radar Earth-imaging satellite, into low Earth orbit, approximately 357 miles above the planet.
Liftoff from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand occurred at 8:17 p.m. NZST Saturday, marking the company's 64th mission overall using the Electron rocket.
Rocket Lab's contract with the Japanese company stipulates five further launches through next year. Four of those are set to take place in 2025, beginning next month, as the Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space continues building its constellation of satellites.
"We are truly delighted to have successfully launched our 10th satellite into orbit just two months after the launch of our QPS-SAR-9," iQPS CEO Shunsuke Onishi said in the Rocket Lab media release.
"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."
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