Rocket Lab successfully completed its 100th Electron rocket launch on November 14, 2026, delivering Japan’s YAMATSUMI-II radar-imaging satellite to low Earth orbit. The mission, named “The Mountain God Rises,” lifted off at 6:30 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Māhia Peninsula. The company confirmed mission success after deploying the spacecraft into its assigned 575-kilometer orbit.
The flight marked Electron’s 100th launch since its 2017 debut and its 11th mission for the Japanese satellite operator Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, known as iQPS. Rocket Lab reports that all 11 Electron missions for iQPS have succeeded. The operator has contracted seven additional dedicated Electron launches through 2030.
YAMATSUMI-II Reaches Orbit
The spacecraft, officially designated QPS-SAR-19, belongs to iQPS’s developing constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites. Its primary purpose is to collect radar images of Earth’s surface, supporting applications that require observations regardless of daylight or cloud cover.
In a November 14 announcement, iQPS confirmed that YAMATSUMI-II separated into its planned orbit approximately 50 minutes after launch. The company established its first communication with the spacecraft about eight minutes after separation and confirmed that its equipment was functioning properly.
Following initial contact, iQPS planned to continue spacecraft adjustments, deploy the satellite’s radar antenna and acquire its first images. These activities form part of the commissioning process, during which an operator activates and checks a satellite’s systems before beginning routine service.
YAMATSUMI-II uses synthetic aperture radar, a technology that transmits radio waves toward the ground and measures their reflections. A satellite combines measurements collected at successive positions along its orbit to produce detailed images. Because the instrument supplies its own radar signals, it can observe the surface at night. Many radar frequencies also penetrate cloud cover, allowing observations under conditions that restrict conventional optical cameras.
The spacecraft is intended to contribute to iQPS’s constellation of radar satellites. A constellation distributes observation tasks among multiple spacecraft, allowing operators to revisit locations more frequently than a single satellite could. Each additional functioning spacecraft can expand available observation capacity according to its orbit and operating characteristics.
The mission’s published flight profile specified an orbital inclination of 42 degrees. Inclination describes the angle between a satellite’s orbital plane and Earth’s equator. Together with altitude, this orbital parameter affects the geographical areas a spacecraft can observe during successive passes.
A Milestone Following Electron’s 99th Flight
Electron’s previous launch occurred on November 3, 2026. That mission, “The Sea God Surveys,” deployed another iQPS radar satellite, QPS-SAR-20, named WADATSUMI-II. The two consecutive missions supported the same customer’s constellation deployment program.
Rocket Lab announced the planned 100th flight on November 12, identifying November 14 as the target date. New Space Economy reported the schedule before liftoff. The November 14 mission-success announcement established the completed milestone and successful satellite deployment.
Rocket Lab says Electron reached 100 launches faster than any previous commercially developed rocket. The company attributes the achievement to its launch operations and manufacturing program. Its comparison concerns the elapsed period between a rocket’s debut and its 100th launch, rather than the maximum number of launches achieved by any orbital vehicle.
Electron has operated since 2017, with its first successful orbital satellite deployment occurring in January 2018. The vehicle has carried spacecraft for commercial operators, scientific organizations and government customers. Rocket Lab operates launch facilities in New Zealand and the United States, with Launch Complex 2 located at Wallops Island, Virginia.
Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Peter Beck said in the company’s milestone announcement that another 100 Electron launches were already booked. This statement describes the company’s contracted launch manifest and is separate from the 100 flights already completed.
Electron’s Launch System and Dedicated Missions
Electron is an approximately 18-meter-tall orbital rocket designed for small spacecraft. Its first stage uses nine Rutherford engines, and its second stage uses one vacuum-optimized Rutherford engine. Both stages use liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants.
The Rutherford engine uses electrically driven pumps to supply propellant to its combustion chamber. Rocket Lab also uses additive manufacturing to produce major engine components. The rocket’s primary structures are made from carbon-composite materials, reducing structural mass.
Electron employs a separate kick stage to complete precise orbital deliveries. After the main rocket stages accelerate the spacecraft toward orbit, the kick stage can perform additional maneuvers and release the satellite at its intended destination. This approach supports missions requiring orbital insertion conditions suited to a particular spacecraft.
Dedicated launch services allow customers to specify mission requirements more directly than is possible when their satellites fly as secondary payloads on another operator’s mission. For iQPS, dedicated Electron flights support repeated deployment of radar satellites into selected orbital planes.
The 100th Electron flight completed another of those deliveries. With YAMATSUMI-II in orbit and its first communication confirmed, iQPS is proceeding with spacecraft commissioning. Rocket Lab’s seven additional contracted missions for the Japanese operator are scheduled across the period extending to 2030.
