Rocket Lab signs multi-launch contract with iQPS for four Electron Missions

Rocket Lab (RKLB) “announced it has signed a multi-launch deal with Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc., a Japan-based Earth imaging company. The multi-launch contract, signed in July 2024, includes three dedicated missions for launch in 2025 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, with a fourth launch scheduled for 2026. Each mission will carry a single satellite to form part of iQPS’ planned constellation of 36 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites that are capable of collecting images through cloud and at night with a high resolution of less than a meter. This multi-launch contract follows Rocket Lab’s deployment of iQPS’ second commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite to space, QPS-SAR-5, during an Electron launch in December 2023. The mission was an expedited launch for iQPS that took place within four months of the launch contract’s announcement, after their original launch provider could not meet iQPS’ mission requirements. In addition to launching on Electron, all iQPS satellites will use a Rocket Lab Motorized Lightband as its separation system for deployment to space.”