noiselaunch2026-08-06

Rocket Lab launches 8th iQPS radar-imaging satellite after 5-week delay

Electron deployed iQPS's QPS-SAR-13 satellite, Rocket Lab's 92nd orbital mission, five weeks after a launch abort.

// sources · 2 attached

what happened

Rocket Lab launched iQPS's eighth SAR satellite, QPS-SAR-13, aboard an Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on August 6, deploying it to a 575-kilometer circular orbit, per SpaceNews and Space.com. The mission, named "The Grain Goddess Provides," was Rocket Lab's 92nd Electron launch overall and came five weeks after a June 30 launch abort scrubbed the previous attempt; Rocket Lab did not disclose the cause of either the abort or the delay. It was the eighth of 18 total Electron missions contracted to build out iQPS's synthetic aperture radar constellation.

why it matters

The launch keeps iQPS's radar constellation build-out moving after a five-week gap, and the 92nd Electron mission extends Rocket Lab's flight-rate track record ahead of Neutron's debut. With 10 more iQPS missions still under contract, Electron's cadence for this single customer is a proxy for how much of Rocket Lab's near-term launch manifest depends on SAR constellation operators.