Radar Satellite That Sees Through Clouds and Night Set to Launch on Electron Rocket

Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch an Earth-observing radar satellite for the Japanese company iQPS on Nov. 2, according to Space.com. The mission would be the company's 99th launch overall, and the launch can be watched live online.

The satellite is meant to see the ground through cloud cover and in the dark, which is the main reason radar spacecraft are valued as a complement to cameras that work in visible light.

When and where the launch is planned

An Electron rocket is set to lift off from Rocket Lab's launch site in New Zealand. The launch window opens at 11:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 2, which is 1630 GMT and 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 3 local time in New Zealand, Space.com reported.

Rocket Lab calls the mission “The Sea God Surveys.” Space.com said viewers can follow the launch through Rocket Lab's own broadcast, which is expected to begin about 30 minutes before liftoff. Space.com plans to carry the company's feed if it is made available.

What the satellite does

The payload is a synthetic aperture radar satellite, usually shortened to SAR. Instead of recording sunlight reflected from the ground, as an optical camera does, a radar satellite sends out its own signal and builds a picture from what comes back.

According to Space.com, that gives SAR satellites advantages over those that view Earth in optical wavelengths. They can look through clouds, and they can study the planet at night as well as during the day.

The satellite belongs to iQPS, which is assembling a constellation of three dozen SAR satellites in low Earth orbit. This will be Rocket Lab's 10th launch for the company.

About the Electron rocket

Space.com described Electron as a two-stage rocket that stands 59 feet (18 meters) tall and gives small satellites dedicated rides to space. The flight would be the 90th for Electron, which has already flown 16 times this year, the outlet said.

Rocket Lab's other nine launches to date used HASTE, a suborbital version of Electron. HASTE, short for Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron, lets customers test their technology in the hypersonic flight environment. It debuted in June 2023 and generally flies classified payloads, according to Space.com.

What it means for readers

For most people the effect of a mission like this is indirect. Radar satellites can keep imaging when weather or darkness would block an optical view, and iQPS is assembling a constellation of three dozen such satellites in low Earth orbit.

The launch also shows the pace of a company that now counts 16 Electron flights so far this year, and it is its 10th launch for iQPS. As is usual with rocket launches, the timing is a plan and not a guarantee, so the schedule could change before liftoff.

What to watch for

The next confirmed step is the liftoff attempt inside the window that opens at 11:30 a.m. EST. Rocket Lab's webcast is expected to start roughly half an hour earlier for anyone who wants to follow along.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Space.com