‘The Sea God Sees’ launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand on May 17, 2025. The mission deployed a single synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite called QPS-SAR-10 (nicknamed “WADATSUMI-I” for the Japanese god of the sea) to a 575km circular Earth orbit, from where the satellite will join the rest of the iQPS constellation in providing high resolution images and Earth monitoring services globally. Photo by Satnews.
The mission was the third overall Electron launch for iQPS and the second in a line-up of eight dedicated missions across 2025 and 2026 to deploy iQPS’s constellation.
Launch Status Rocket Lab called the mission “The Sea God Sees.” That was a reference to the satellite going up, which iQPS nicknamed Wadatsumi-I after a water deity in Japanese mythology.
The satellite was built by Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, or iQPS, a Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites. This was the third Electron launch for iQPS and the second in a multi-launch contract after a launch in mid-March.