On Saturday, 17 May, Rocket Lab successfully launched the Wadatsumi-I radar surveillance satellite for the Japanese company iQPS from the Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
Electron rocket launched on 08:17 UTC and approx 50,5 minutes withdrawn the apparatus in orbit tall 575 km. The mission has received a poetic name “The Sea God Sees” - in honor of Vadatium, water deity from Japanese mythology, after which the iQPS company named the satellite.
Powers of SAR observation
Wadatsumi-I is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system, which allows him to make observations regardless of the time of day or weather conditions, including cloudiness or darkness. The device joined the growing constellation of iQPS SAR satellites, becoming the ninth in the group.
The iQPS company plans to deploy a constellation of 36 satellites, to provide near-real-time data acquisition with an average observation interval for a specific region every 10 minutes. This opens up the possibility of continuous monitoring as immovable objects (Earth, buildings), and moving targets (cars, ships, cattle).
Plans for iQPS and Rocket Lab
This was the third Electron launch for iQPS and the second of a planned eight launches in 2025–2026, which aim to fully form the company's satellite network. In general, this is already the 64th launch of the Electron rocket and the sixth in 2025 year.
The mission once again demonstrated Rocket Lab's effectiveness in providing dedicated launch services for small satellites, in particular, in the segment of commercial Earth observation.