Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launched the QPS-SAR-18 satellite, nicknamed SUSANOO-II, for the Japanese company iQPS on Thursday (Aug. 20). The "The Lightning God Defends," mission lifted off at 1304 UTC from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

The nine 3D-printed Rutherford engines that power Electron's first stage shut off as planned about 2.5 minutes after liftoff. Separation with the rocket's second stage immediately followed, which burned for another 6.5 minutes before releasing Electron's "kick stage" with the IQPS payload for a 40-minute coast phase. SUSANOO-II (nicknamed after a Japanese lightning god) was deployed into a 575-kilometer low Earth orbit about 50 minutes after launch.

The launch adds to iQPS’s expanding constellation of 36 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites designed to provide near-real-time, high-resolution Earth imagery every 10 minutes.

SAR technology allows the satellites to peer through cloud cover and operate day or night, supporting applications in maritime domain awareness, disaster response, and defense monitoring under Japan’s Ministry of Defense. The satellite utilizes a patented 3.6-meter X-band mesh antenna to achieve sub-meter resolution while remaining lightweight enough for the Electron rocket.

The iQPS network "is being developed and deployed at a rapid pace to provide high resolution and near-real time SAR imagery to its global users," Rocket Lab wrote in "The Lightning God Defends" mission description.

Following Thursday's deployment, nine additional dedicated Electron launches remain booked by iQPS to complete the constellation by 2030. This mission succeeded the previous launch of QPS-SAR-13 (Mikura-I) on August 6, which occurred after a five-week delay caused by a launch abort on June 30, 2026.

The continued block-buying of dedicated launches underscores the necessity of precise orbital insertion for iQPS’s Walker-class constellation geometry, which cannot be achieved through cheaper rideshare options. Rocket Lab also operates a suborbital variant of Electron called HASTE, which allows customers to test sensors and other tech in the hypersonic flight environment.

Thursday's launch marked Rocket Lab’s 93rd overall Electron mission and its 14th launch of 2026, continuing a partnership with a 100% mission success rate for iQPS deployments.

President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social early morning UTC Thursday, that the United States is launching against Iran, what he claimed to be the "most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country," framing the move as "economic warfare and isolation on an unprecedented scale."

Trump declared that Iran had "failed to take" a greater opportunity to make a deal, justifying the escalation by claiming Iran’s navy is gone, its air force destroyed, and its currency worthless. He issued a stark warning that any country allowing its financial institutions, businesses, or government entities to provide a lifeline to Iran would face "tremendous economic consequences."

The President demanded an immediate stop to oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, and front companies, calling the announcement an "ECONOMIC D-DAY" and urging allies to join the effort to isolate Tehran.

The announcement comes as peace talks remain at a complete impasse, with the Iranians and Trump confirming there are "no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled" with Iran. The U.S. had previously agreed to a 60-day ceasefire in a June Memorandum of Understanding with Iran, but that deal expired without renewal.

Iran remains defiant, with parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stating the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened until the U.S. meets specific demands: lifting the U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports, removing sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sales and unfreezing Iranian assets held abroad.

Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway responsible for nearly a fifth of global petroleum transit, has been effectively closed to traffic by Iran since early March, with the U.S. military describing its own naval blockade of Iran as "100% successful" and having redirected 65 vessels. Trump recently threatened "to bomb the shit out of" Oman, if the nation bypassed the U.S. blockade to broker independent commercial shipping routes with Iran.

The UAE recently halted trade with Iran following accusations that Tehran fired ballistic missiles at the country, Iranian officials denied the accusations. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has demanded Iraq crack down on Iran-backed militia leaders over ongoing attacks against its oil facilities.

U.S. and Israel launched massive military operations against Iran on February 28. In response, Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz and demanded an immediate end to Washington’s maritime containment.

With peace negotiations abandoned and secondary economic sanctions taking effect, the conflict continues to drive global energy market volatility. Oil prices have risen above $90 a barrel as investors worry about prolonged inflation shocks.

"Americans think squeezing Iran harder will win concessions that were never part of the agreement,"  Ghalibaf wrote on X. "Bessent and Hegseth are way out of their league. Stop waiting for the clown crew to pull a rabbit out of their hat and clean up the mess you made."