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Rocket Lab Ends 2025 With Record 21 Electron Launches After Delivering iQPS Radar Satellite

The year-end flight signals plans to broaden Electron's reach in 2026 across constellation, civil agency, defense work.

Overview

  • An Electron lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 06:36 UTC to deploy iQPS’s QPS-SAR-15 on the mission dubbed “The Wisdom God Guides.”
  • iQPS reported the spacecraft reached a 575-kilometer, 42-degree orbit and made initial contact with controllers.
  • Rocket Lab closed the year with 21 Electron missions, including three HASTE suborbital flights, meeting its goal and reporting 100% mission success.
  • The launch marked Rocket Lab’s seventh mission for iQPS, with five additional Electron launches for the constellation contracted to begin in 2026.
  • December flights also included a JAXA technology demo from New Zealand and four DiskSat satellites for the U.S. Space Force from Virginia, with the next Electron launch planned for early Q1 2026.