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notablecontract2026-09-14

iQPS books H3 rideshare launch with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

iQPS · Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

iQPS signed a rideshare deal to fly three QPS-SAR satellites on Japan's H3 rocket, per Economia dello Spazio.

Image: techtimes.com
// sources · 2 attached
  1. [1]trade presseconomiadellospazio.it↗
  2. [2]informal · corroborationtechtimes.com↗

what happened

iQPS agreed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on September 14 to fly three QPS-SAR radar-imaging satellites as rideshare payloads on an upcoming H3 launch, per Economia dello Spazio and Tech Times. The deal is backed by Japan's Space Strategy Fund and adds a third launch-services relationship for iQPS alongside its existing contracts with Rocket Lab and MaiaSpace. No launch date or financial terms were disclosed.

why it matters

Co-manifesting three satellites on one H3 flight, instead of one per Rocket Lab Electron launch, cuts iQPS's per-satellite launch cost as it scales its SAR constellation. It also gives Japan's H3 rocket a dedicated commercial SAR rideshare customer, a data point for other Japanese constellation operators weighing H3 against Electron or MaiaSpace for future manifests.

signal-to-noise

WIDELY REPORTED
4/5
leadtier 3 of 5 on its owncorrob+1 earned from 1 rule
calculation
3base tier 3 from lead source class "trade" (Economia dello Spazio) economiadellospazio.it+12 distinct sources (>=2)
= 4current score, recomputed by the engine on every change
scorer v2how scores work →

quick facts

Companies
iQPS, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Category
contract
Impact
notable
SNR
4 / 5
Event date
2026-09-14
Published
2026-09-16 12:19 UTC
#eo#sar#japan

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