Rocket Lab Plans Electron's 100th Mission for November 14

Rocket Lab plans to fly one Electron carrying a synthetic aperture radar Earth-observation satellite for Tokyo-based iQPS on November 14, 2026. The company calls the planned 100th mission “The Mountain God Rises.”

Key details

• The reported launch window opens at 12:30 a.m. EST (05:30 GMT) on November 14, equivalent to 6:30 p.m. local time in New Zealand.
• Electron’s kick stage is planned to place the satellite in orbit at an altitude of 357 miles (575 kilometers).
• The flight would mark Rocket Lab’s 11th mission for iQPS.
• iQPS is building a low Earth orbit constellation of 36 synthetic aperture radar satellites.
• Peter Beck said Electron had achieved 96% reliability across 99 launches, according to a statement reported November 9, 2026.
• Rocket Lab also operates HASTE, a suborbital Electron variant that had flown nine missions at the time of the report.

Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said Electron had achieved 96% reliability across 99 launches.

Why it matters

The planned flight would add another spacecraft to iQPS’s radar constellation and continue a launch relationship that includes 10 earlier missions. Synthetic aperture radar satellites use radar signals to observe Earth.