SpaceX is targeting Thursday, October 1 for Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-18 mission to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The 58-minute launch window opens at 11:18 a.m. PT. If needed, there is a backup opportunity on Friday, October 2 at the same time.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.

This will be the 25th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20, NROL-145, and 21 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage will land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Transporter-18 is a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There are 130 payloads on this flight, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and two spacecraft with reentry vehicles and four orbital transfer vehicles carrying 41 of those payloads to be deployed at a later time. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,800 payloads to orbit across our entire Rideshare program.

There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

Quelle: SpaceX

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Update: 2.10.2026

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Start von SpaceX Falcon9 mit Transporter-18 Mission

TRANSPORTER-18 MISSION