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Rocket Lab successfully launched its sixth mission for Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS on Tuesday, deploying another satellite to strengthen the firm’s constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft.
An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-14 satellite, named Yachihoko-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Mahia Peninsula launch site in New Zealand at 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT; 8:51 a.m. local time on Nov. 6). About 50 minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s kick stage deployed the satellite into a circular orbit 357 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth.
“This satellite will join the rest of the QPS-SAR constellation in providing high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and Earth monitoring services globally,” Rocket Lab said in a mission description. The company noted that iQPS aims to operate a 36-satellite network capable of delivering near-real-time images of Earth every 10 minutes.
Although named QPS-SAR-14, Yachihoko-I is the 13th iQPS satellite to reach orbit. Seven of the company’s previous satellites were launched aboard rockets from India, Japan, and the United States, including India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, Japan’s Epsilon, and SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The satellite’s name, Yachihoko, refers to a Japanese god of nation-building, inspiring Rocket Lab to title the mission “The Nation God Navigates.”
The flight marked Rocket Lab’s 16th mission of 2025 and its 74th overall. Most of the company’s launches have used the 18-meter-tall Electron rocket, while its suborbital variant, known as HASTE — short for “Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron” — has flown five times since its debut in June 2023.
