A Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites is the latest to turn to Rocket Lab after the bankruptcy of rival launch company Virgin Orbit. Rocket Lab announced Aug. 17 that it signed a contract with Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (iQPS) for a dedicated launch of its QPS-SAR-5 satellite on a Electron rocket. That launch, on a mission called “The Moon God Awakens”, is scheduled for September from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. In addition to the delay launching QPS-SAR-5, iQPS lost two other satellites, QPS-SAR-3 and -4, when a Japanese Epsilon rocket failed to reach orbit during an October 2022 launch. The QPS-SAR-6 satellite did make it to orbit as part of SpaceX’s Transporter-8 rideshare mission in June. The company has long-term plans for a 36-satellite constellation capable of producing SAR imagery at resolutions sharper than 50 centimeters.
