Rocket Lab Secures Latest Multi-Launch Contract with iQPS for Three Dedicated Electron Missions

LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has signed another multi-launch deal with Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS) – making Rocket Lab the primary launch provider to deploy the company’s commercial Earth-imaging constellation.

The multi-launch contract includes three dedicated Electron missions that will launch no earlier than 2026 from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. With four dedicated missions already booked by iQPS on Electron, these three additional missions bring the total number of upcoming launches for iQPS to seven.

Each dedicated launch will deploy a single synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite from a Rocket Lab Motorized Lightband separation system – demonstrating Rocket Lab’s vertical integration across launch and space systems that improves reliability and streamlines the launch process for its customers.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: “We’re proud to be expanding our partnership with iQPS to deliver their QPS-SAR satellites to orbit. By choosing both Electron and our separation systems to deploy their satellites, iQPS takes advantage of a highly-integrated launch service that maximizes reliability and streamlines operations for faster access to space to grow their constellation. It’s a privilege to continue to deliver this for iQPS across our missions to date and the ones to come.”

iQPS CEO, Dr. Shunsuke Onishi, says: “In 2025, we successfully deployed four satellites, QPS-SAR-9 through QPS-SAR-12, into their planned orbits aboard Electron. This outcome was exactly as we had anticipated, and it further reaffirmed our confidence in the rocket’s reliability. We are very pleased to have now signed an additional contract for the launch of three more satellites on Electron. This agreement marks an important step toward the realization of our QPS-SAR constellation. We will continue to make steady progress with unwavering dedication to achieving this goal.”

As international orders for Electron’s responsive launch service continue to grow, Rocket Lab has increased its production and launch cadence to meet the demand for 20+ launches in 2025. Rocket Lab has successfully launched four missions for iQPS to date this year, including .

Rocket Lab’s next launch for iQPS is scheduled to take place from November. Further information about the launch will be announced in the coming days.

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About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab is a leading space company that provides launch services, spacecraft, payloads and satellite components serving commercial, government, and national security markets. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is the world’s most frequently launched orbital small rocket; its HASTE rocket provides hypersonic test launch capability for the U.S. government and allied nations; and its Neutron launch vehicle in development will unlock medium launch for constellation deployment, national security and exploration missions. Rocket Lab’s spacecraft and satellite components have enabled more than 1,700 missions spanning commercial, defense and national security missions including GPS, constellations, and exploration missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus. Rocket Lab is a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq stock exchange (RKLB). Learn more at .

About iQPS

iQPS is a space start-up founded in 2005 by two Emeritus Professors of Kyushu University and a rocket developer to establish the space industry in the Kyushu region in Japan. Based on more than 20 years of technology in the development of small satellites at Kyushu University, now iQPS brings together young engineers and industrialists with a team of pioneering professors emeritus. In addition, iQPS’s business is strongly supported by more than 25 partner companies, mostly in northern Kyushu.

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