SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)
Launched
October 1, 2026 · 18:32 UTC
Image: SpaceX
Summary
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Block 5 flew the Transporter 18 dedicated rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, carrying dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers into a sun-synchronous orbit. The launch was successful.
- Watch
- Vehicle
- Falcon 9 Block 5 · SpaceX
- Booster
- B1082 · flight 25 · Return to Launch Site at Landing Zone 4 · landed37/37 landed here · 36 days after its previous flight, Starlink Group 15-22
- Mission
- Dedicated Rideshare · Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)for SpX
- Milestone
- 636th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight · 110th this yearSpaceX's 734th launch115th this yearhumanity's 7,408th orbital launch attempt235th orbital launch attempt this year
Flight preview
Simulate in Flight ClubOrbit: as tracked
OBJECT A · NORAD 100883 · 2026-227A · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 71 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- W-SERIES 8
- Object ID
- 2026-227A
- Epoch
- 2026-10-15 22:15:44 UTC
- Mean motion
- 15.17263027 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.00027877
- Inclination
- 97.4438°
- Ascending node
- 358.199°
- Arg. of perigee
- 95.0842°
- Mean anomaly
- 265.071°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 215
- B*
- 0.00014151331
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: SSO. Ascent simulated from a published stage table. Booster return drawn from padside's representative arc.
About this launch
Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 from Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA on October 1, 2026 at 18:32 UTC. The launch window ran from 18:18 to 19:16 UTC. It was SpaceX's 734th launch, 115th this year and humanity's 7,408th orbital launch attempt. It was the 636th Falcon 9 Block 5 flight and the 110th this year. Booster B1082 flew for the 25th time and landed at Landing Zone 4. The payload was bound for Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO). Its earliest tracked orbit, from October 6, 2026, was 520 × 523 km inclined 97.4°.
Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.
News
Transporter-18 SmallSats EncapsulationThree NASA-supported small spacecraft, along with many commercial payloads, are shown before being encapsulated in a SpaceX Falcon 9 ahead of launch on Oct. 1, 2026. The ASCENT Propulsion Dual Mode CubeSat, the Supernova Remnants and Proxies for ReIonization Testbed Experiment (SPRITE) CubeSat, and the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission will demonstrate […]
NASA’s SSPICY Mission to Demonstrate In-Space Inspection TechnologiesA new NASA-supported spacecraft will get up close to satellites that are no longer in service, demonstrating technologies that could support future in-space repairs and reduce orbital debris. The Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission launched Oct. 1 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission is a technology demonstration where an […]
GOMX-5 successfully launchedFrom the ESA Blogs.
Live coverage: AI datacenter prototypes, energy redirection demonstrators and more launching on SpaceX’s Transporter-18The mission carries 130 payloads onboard the Falcon 9 rocket heading to a Sun-synchronous orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 11:32 a.m. PDT (2:32 p.m. EDT / 1832 UTC).
Starfish Otter, other payloads set to launch on Transporter 18SpaceX plans to launch a Transporter rideshare mission aboard a Falcon 9 from California, on…
Launch Preview: Crew-13 to launch to ISS, Falcon Heavy to launch mission for the NROFour orbital launches are expected this week, all by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy…
NASA Tests Dual Mode Propulsion CubeSat Ahead of LaunchSpacecraft propulsion traditionally relies on volatile fuels and separate, bulky systems for different types of maneuvering in space. NASA is working to change that paradigm. Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently completed a rigorous series of environmental and physical tests on a new small satellite designed to make spaceflight safer […]
After seven years, a spacecraft company is releasing its Otters into the wild"There is always a tension that comes with seeing the first of anything fly."
Airspace and maritime notices
1 notice filed by the US Coast Guard
- Sector San Diego, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)/Space Operations/Hazardous Warning Area/Commercial (Hazardous) · Expired
Matched by proximity to the pad · Source
Pad
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
300th launch from Space Launch Complex 4E, 62nd this year · 916th from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Local pad time at liftoff: Oct 1, 11:32 AM PDT, in daylight
303 launches from this pad · 919 from Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
5 days 4 hours after the previous launch from this pad
Updates
Launch success. All payloads deployed.
Show 7 earlier updates
Liftoff!
hitura-nobad · 10/1/2026 · source
Unofficial Re-stream by SPACE AFFAIRS has started
LL2 · 10/1/2026 · source
Now targeting Oct 01 at 18:32 UTC
Cosmic_Penguin · 10/1/2026 · source
New T-0.
Cosmic_Penguin · 10/1/2026 · source
GO for launch.
Cosmic_Penguin · 9/25/2026 · source
NET October 1, TBC.
Cosmic_Penguin · 9/21/2026 · source
Added launch.
Cosmic_Penguin · 6/3/2025 · source
Questions
When did Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) launch?
Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) launched on October 1, 2026 at 18:32 UTC. The launch window ran from 18:18 to 19:16 UTC.
Where can I watch Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)?
Coverage: SpaceX Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare); SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 130 payloads from California on Transporter 18 mission; Transporter-18 Mission. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)?
Falcon 9 Block 5, flown by SpaceX. Falcon 9 Block 5 spec sheet
Where did Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) launch from?
Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA. Liftoff was Oct 1, 11:32 AM PDT local time at the pad.
Did the booster land?
Booster B1082 flew for the 25th time and landed at Landing Zone 4.
What orbit did Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare) reach?
Its earliest tracked orbit, from October 6, 2026, was 520 × 523 km inclined 97.4°.