Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)

Falcon 9 Transporter-18 lofted 130 smallsat rideshare payloads to sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg SLC-4E, including NASA's SPRITE CubeSat, Google's Project Suncatcher TPU pathfinder, and Star Catcher's Protostar prototype. Four orbital transfer vehicles carried 41 of those payloads for later deployment, plus two reentry vehicles, and booster B1082 completed its 25th flight with a landing at LZ-4.

Outcome

Success

Orbit

SSO

Sun-synchronous orbit

Payload to orbit

5 T (est.)

Flight

635th

of 638 Falcon 9 Block 5 flights

Date and time

1 October 2026, 18:32 UTC

Rocket

Falcon 9 Block 5

Builder

SpaceX

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Payload

Dedicated Rideshare

International designator

2026-227

Launches in 2026

237th of 243

See it in orbit

Space Atlas shows the satellites and rocket stages from this launch in 3D.

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