SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission
Launched
January 11, 2026 · 13:44 UTC
Image: SpaceX
Summary
Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA on January 11, 2026 at 13:44 UTC. The launch window ran from 13:19 to 14:16 UTC. It was SpaceX's 623rd launch, 4th this year and humanity's 7,177th orbital launch attempt. It was the 530th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight and the 4th this year. Booster B1097 flew for the 5th time and landed at Landing Zone 4. The payload was bound for Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). The tracked orbit of Lemur-2 FikretDengiz, one of 40 catalogued objects, from January 22, 2026, was 610 × 620 km inclined 97.8°. 40 objects from this launch are catalogued, all of them payloads.
- Watch
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 Block 5 · SpaceX
- Booster
- B1097 · flight 5 · Return to Launch Site at Landing Zone 4 · landed35/35 landed here · 37 days after its previous flight, Starlink Group 11-25
- Mission
- Astrophysics · Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)
- Milestone
- 530th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight · 4th this yearSpaceX's 623rd launch4th this yearhumanity's 7,177th orbital launch attempt4th orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Simulate in Flight ClubOrbit: as tracked
Lemur-2 FikretDengiz · NORAD 67363 · 2026-004 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 40 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- TBA - TO BE ASSIGNED
- Object ID
- 2026-004A
- Epoch
- 2026-01-22 07:31:38 UTC
- Mean motion
- 14.86897489 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.00073653
- Inclination
- 97.7989°
- Ascending node
- 23.2883°
- Arg. of perigee
- 258.8443°
- Mean anomaly
- 101.1945°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 159
- B*
- 0.00030170392
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: SSO.
Flight timeline
- T+1M12SMax-Q
- T+2M15SMECO
- T+2M18SStage 2 Separation
- T+2M22SStage 1 Flip
- T+2M26SSES-1
- T+2M32SBooster Boostback Burn Startup
- T+2M56SFairing Separation
- T+3M26SBooster Boostback Burn Shutdown
- T+6M8SEntry Burn Startup
- T+6M19SEntry Burn Shutdown
- T+7M16SStage 1 Landing Burn
- T+7M34SStage 1 Landing
- T+8M9SSECO-1
- T+56M55SSES-2
- T+56M56SSECO-2
- T+1H1M33SPayload Deployment Sequence Start
- T+1H8M22SPayload Deployment Sequence End
- T+1H43M4SSES-3
- T+1H43M5SSECO-3
- T+2H14M51SSES-4
- T+2H14M52SSECO-4
- T+2H19M56SPayload Deployment Sequence Start
- T+2H32M59SPayload Deployment Sequence End
Catalogued objects
40 catalogued: 40 payloads; 40 still in orbit
- Lemur-2 FikretDengiz · NORAD 67363 · in orbit
- Dcubed-1 · NORAD 67364 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Mario-Sousa · NORAD 67365 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Callum-K-J · NORAD 67366 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Sonnenblume · NORAD 67367 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Wobler · NORAD 67368 · in orbit
- BlackCAT · NORAD 67369 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Gram-E-Sue · NORAD 67370 · in orbit
- Umbra-12 · NORAD 67371 · in orbit
- ICEYE-X63 · NORAD 67372 · in orbit
- ICEYE-X64 · NORAD 67373 · in orbit
- Aether-3 · NORAD 67374 · in orbit
Show 28 more payloads
- Aether-4 · NORAD 67375 · in orbit
- Aether-5 · NORAD 67376 · in orbit
- Aether-6 · NORAD 67377 · in orbit
- Aether-7 · NORAD 67378 · in orbit
- Aether-8 · NORAD 67379 · in orbit
- Aether-9 · NORAD 67380 · in orbit
- Aether-10 · NORAD 67381 · in orbit
- Aether-11 · NORAD 67382 · in orbit
- Aether-12 · NORAD 67383 · in orbit
- Capella 19 · NORAD 67384 · in orbit
- Capella 18 · NORAD 67385 · in orbit
- SPARCS · NORAD 67386 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Kate · NORAD 67387 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 HCS-Bazus · NORAD 67388 · in orbit
- Hydra-2 · NORAD 67389 · in orbit
- Connecta IOT-16 · NORAD 67390 · in orbit
- Flamingo-1 · NORAD 67391 · in orbit
- Hawk 13A · NORAD 67392 · in orbit
- Hawk 13C · NORAD 67393 · in orbit
- Lemur-2 Kutar · NORAD 67394 · in orbit
- Pandora · NORAD 67395 · in orbit
- Hawk 13B · NORAD 67396 · in orbit
- CarbSAR-IOD · NORAD 67397 · in orbit
- Tomorrow-S10 · NORAD 67398 · in orbit
- Tomorrow-S11 · NORAD 67399 · in orbit
- Connecta IOT-13 · NORAD 67400 · in orbit
- Connecta IOT-14 · NORAD 67401 · in orbit
- Connecta IOT-15 · NORAD 67402 · in orbit
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
The Pandora small satellite was selected in 2021 as an inaugural mission in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. It includes a 0.45-meter telescope that will improve our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by disentangling exoplanet signals from their host stars, as well as studying host star variability with long-duration observations of 20 unique planets through visible-light photometry and near-infrared spectroscopy. Also launching on this launch are 39 other ride-share payloads under the "Falcon 9 Twilight mission" manifested by Exolaunch, including satellites from Spire Global and Kepler Communications.
News
Pad
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
240th launch from Space Launch Complex 4E, 2nd this year · 854th from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Local pad time at liftoff: Jan 11, 5:44 AM PST, at night
303 launches from this pad · 919 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
8 days 11 hours after the previous launch from this pad
Updates
All payloads deployed, launch successful.
Show 9 earlier updates
Liftoff
hitura-nobad · 1/11/2026 · source
Unofficial Re-stream by SPACE AFFAIRS has started
LL2 · 1/11/2026 · source
Tweaked T-0.
Cosmic_Penguin · 1/11/2026 · source
Now targeting Jan 11 at 13:44 UTC
Cosmic_Penguin · 1/11/2026 · source
Now targeting Jan 11 at 13:20 UTC
hitura-nobad · 1/10/2026 · source
GO for launch.
Cosmic_Penguin · 1/7/2026 · source
NET January 11.
Cosmic_Penguin · 1/2/2026 · source
NET January.
Cosmic_Penguin · 12/30/2025 · source
Added launch. (launch date per https://bsky.app/profile/danielapai.bsky.social/post/3m4wrvazwz22s)
Cosmic_Penguin · 12/9/2025 · source
Questions
When did Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launch?
Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launched on January 11, 2026 at 13:44 UTC. The launch window ran from 13:19 to 14:16 UTC.
Where can I watch Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission?
Coverage: SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Twilight (Pandora & Others) - SLC-4E - Vandenberg SFB - January 11, 2026; Live: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Twilight rideshare mission from Vandenberg, California; Twilight Mission. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission?
Falcon 9 Block 5, flown by SpaceX. Falcon 9 Block 5 spec sheet
Where did Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launch from?
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA. Liftoff was Jan 11, 5:44 AM PST local time at the pad.
Did the booster land?
Booster B1097 flew for the 5th time and landed at Landing Zone 4.
What orbit did Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission reach?
The tracked orbit of Lemur-2 FikretDengiz, one of 40 catalogued objects, from January 22, 2026, was 610 × 620 km inclined 97.8°.
How many satellites did Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission launch?
40 payloads from this launch are catalogued, 40 of them still in orbit (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).