Insider Brief
- Rocket Lab will launch its next mission, “The Sea God Sees,” for Japanese SAR imaging company iQPS no earlier than May 17, 2025, from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
- The mission will deploy the QPS-SAR-10 satellite (“WADATSUMI-I”) into a 575km orbit, expanding iQPS’s Earth observation constellation and marking the second of eight contracted launches through 2026.
- This will be Rocket Lab’s sixth mission of 2025 and its 64th Electron launch overall, bringing its total deployed satellites to 225.
PRESS RELEASE – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, hashttps://www.rocketlabusa.com/updates/rocket-lab-schedules-next-mission-for-multi-launch-customer-iqps/ announced the launch window for its next mission for multi-launch customer, Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS).
The mission, named ‘The Sea God Sees’, will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a launch window that opens on May 17, 2025. The mission will launch a single synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite called QPS-SAR-10 (nicknamed “WADATSUMI-I” for the Japanese god of the sea) to a 575km circular Earth orbit, from where the satellite will join the rest of the iQPS constellation in providing high resolution images and Earth monitoring services globally.
The mission will be the third overall Electron launch for iQPS and the second in a line-up of eight dedicated missions across 2025 and 2026 to deploy iQPS’s constellation. The first mission of the multi-launch contract, ‘The Lightning God Reigns’, was successfully deployed to space by Electron just weeks ago on March 15, 2025.
“The Sea God Sees” will be Rocket Lab’s sixth mission of 2025, its 64th Electron launch overall, and will bring the total number of satellites delivered to space by Rocket Lab to 225.
“The Sea God Sees” mission information: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/missions/next-mission
Greg Bock
Greg Bock is an award-winning investigative journalist with more than 25 years of experience in print, digital, and broadcast news. His reporting has spanned crime, politics, business and technology, earning multiple Keystone Awards and a Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters honors. Through the Associated Press and Nexstar Media Group, his coverage has reached audiences across the United States.
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