iQPS
{{Short description|Japanese satellite company}}
{{Lowercase title}}
{{Infobox company
| name =iQPS
| logo =
| type =
| industry = Satellite imagery
| fate = Active
| predecessor =
| successor =
| founded = 2005 in Fukuoka, Japan
| founders = Tetsuo Yasaka
Noboru Sakurai
Kunihiro Funakoshi
| hq_location_city = Fukuoka
| hq_location_country = Japan
| area_served =
| key_people =
| products = satellite images
| owner =
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year =
| parent =
| website = {{URL|https://i-qps.net/}}
}}
iQPS (Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc.) is a Japanese satellite manufacturer and operator. The company was founded as a spin-off company of Kyushu University in 2005.{{cite news |date=June 28, 2022 |title=福岡の"リアル下町ロケット"！宇宙ベンチャー企業「ＱＰＳ研究所」 |url=https://rkb.jp/article/116485/ |language=ja |newspaper=RKB Online |access-date=2023-12-15 |archive-date=2022-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222130943/https://rkb.jp/article/116485/ |url-status=live }} As of November 2023, the company operated three Earth observation satellites, each equipped with a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR).{{cite news |last=Foust |first=Jeff |date=August 17, 2023 |title=Japanese SAR company iQPS to launch with Rocket Lab after Virgin Orbit bankruptcy |url=https://spacenews.com/japanese-sar-company-iqps-to-launch-with-rocket-lab-after-virgin-orbit-bankruptcy/ |newspaper=SpaceNews |accessdate=2023-12-15}}
History
iQPS was founded by Tetsuo Yasaka, Noboru Sakurai and Kunihiro Funakoshi in 2005 to promote the space industry in Kyushu. By 2013, with its members aging, the trio were considering to close the company when Shunsuke Onishi, then a graduate student studying at Kyushu University approached them intending to join iQPS. Onishi was hired on two conditions: that he become the company's CEO, and that he come up with a viable business plan. Onishi's idea was to build small SAR satellites and conduct real time observation of Earth.{{cite news |date=June 18, 2020 |title=九州から宇宙へ！ 衛星開発ベンチャー「QPS研究所」の師弟の夢 |url=https://fukuoka-leapup.jp/biz/202006.78 |language=ja |newspaper=FUKUOKA leap up |access-date=2023-12-15 |archive-date=2023-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321082433/https://fukuoka-leapup.jp/biz/202006.78 |url-status=live }}
The company's first satellite, IZANAGI was successfully launched by a PSLV rocket in 2019.{{cite news |last=Werner |first=Debra |date=September 30, 2020 |title=Japan's iQPS to update technology for future radar satellites |url=https://spacenews.com/iqps-constellation-plan/ |newspaper=SpaceNews |accessdate=2023-12-15 |archive-date=2023-12-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215163811/https://spacenews.com/iqps-constellation-plan/ |url-status=live }}
See also
References
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