Japan’s iQPS Launched on a PSLV

Japan’s iQPS

The PSLV-C48 mission will feature a revolutionary satellite test technology by Japan, in the iQPS microsatellite. The 100-kg synthetic aperture radar (SAR) microsatellite aims to provide all-weather, 24/7 earth observation services for hire. These satellites offer remote surveillance and “near real-time” views of Earth from space.

The iQPS satellites are designed and built by the QPS Institute (iQPS) — precursors for a planned constellation of 36 satellites.

Japanese satellite venture iQPS plans to capture radar imagery of our entire planet every 10 minutes — a “real-time Google Maps” if you will. Image: iQPS

Launched on December 12^th 2019 at 6:55pm (JST) from Satish Dawn Space Centre at Sriharikota, India, iQPS X-band small SAR satellite “IZANAGI” has made a successful communication at the first pass of the ground station, which was held in the early morning on the following day. Followed by the confirmation of its good condition, IZANAGI has executed the deployment of its parabolic antenna on December 16^th, 2019.

“We are pleased to announce the successful launch and good contacts with IZANAGI thus far,” says Shunsuke Onishi, CEO, iQPS. “We are on a good track and planning to obtain the first earth observation data soon after completing the calibration of the satellite. We look forward to release our high-resolution SAR imagery, which would be next month, and the first place to observe would be northern Kyushu Island of Japan. IZANAGI is the first step of our project to establish real-time earth observation by 36-satellite constellation and we are launching our second satellite IZANAMI next year.”