5 August 2025 year Fr. 07:10 near Kyiv, the Rocket Lab company successfully launched the Electron rocket from the Launch Complex cosmodrome 1 on the Mahia Peninsula, UTC. The mission, called "The Harvest Goddess Thrives," delivered a synthetic aperture radar satellite into orbit (SAR) QPS-SAR-12, also known as Kushinada-I, for the Japanese company Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (iQPS). The satellite was deployed in a circular orbit at an altitude of 575 km approximately through 54 minutes after the start, as planned.
Mission details
QPS-SAR-12, named after the Japanese goddess of harvest and prosperity, Kushinada, will join the iQPS constellation, which currently has 12 satellites. The company's goal is to deploy 36 SAR satellites, able to receive high-resolution images regardless of cloudiness or time of day. This data will be used for:
- Earth surface monitoring for agriculture, urban planning and security.
- Analysis of the movement of objects, such as vessels, vehicles or livestock.
- Providing data with an observation frequency of up to 10 minutes for individual regions after the completion of the constellation.
The mission was the 69th launch of the Electron rocket and the fifth for iQPS after previous successful missions: «The Moon God Awakens» (December 2023), «The Lightning God Reigns», «The Sea God Sees» і «The Mountain God Guards» (2025). Three more launches for iQPS are planned before the end 2025 year and on 2026 a year under contracts for eight missions. Rocket Lab also deployed the satellite using its own Mark II Motorized Lightband Separation System.
Values for iQPS and Rocket Lab
QPS-SAR constellation data can revolutionize industries, providing analytics for agriculture, economic forecasting and city security. Integration with weather and market data will enable the creation of predictive models for regional markets.
Source: https://www.space.com