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'The Sea God Surveys': Watch Rocket Lab launch Japanese Earth-observing satellite today
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Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch its 99th mission, "The Sea God Surveys," on Nov. 2, sending a Japanese Earth-observing radar satellite to orbit. An Electron rocket will lift off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site during a window that opens at 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT; 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 local New Zealand time). The company will stream the launch live starting about 30 minutes before liftoff.
The payload belongs to Japanese company iQPS, which is assembling a constellation of three dozen synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites in low Earth orbit. This will be Rocket Lab's 10th launch for iQPS. SAR satellites can peer through cloud cover and study Earth at night as well as during the day.
The mission will be the 90th flight for Electron, a two-stage rocket standing 59 feet (18 meters) tall that gives small satellites dedicated rides to space. Electron has already flown 16 times this year. Rocket Lab's other nine launches have used HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron for hypersonic flight testing.
HASTE, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, debuted in June 2023 and generally flies classified payloads. It allows customers to test technology in the hypersonic flight environment. The suborbital vehicle accounts for nine of Rocket Lab's 99 missions to date.
The mission matters because SAR satellites can observe through cloud cover and at night, advantages over optical systems. iQPS is building a three-dozen-satellite constellation in low Earth orbit to use those capabilities. Rocket Lab's dedicated smallsat launches support that build-out.
The launch window and live coverage give viewers a chance to follow the mission, with Space.com expected to carry Rocket Lab's feed if it is made available. A successful flight would move Rocket Lab closer to its 100th mission. It would mark another step in iQPS's constellation build-out.
