Rocket Lab launches private Japanese radar satellite from New Zealand

Rocket Lab launched a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS early Tuesday morning.

An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-12 satellite, nicknamed Kushinada-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site on Tuesday at 12:10 a.m. EDT (0410 GMT and 4:10 p.m. local New Zealand time).
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The Electron deployed Kushinada-I into a circular orbit 357 miles (575 kilometers) above Earth about 54 minutes after launch as planned, Rocket Lab announced via X.