WORLDTECHLaunch preview: More than 100 spacecraft hitch a ride to orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-18
Full credit
File:Launch of the Roman Space Telescope (NASA livestream).webm / NASA Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday's Image APOD: 2026 August 30 – M74: A Grand Design Spiral Tomorrow's Image / Launch of the Roman Space Telescope / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Launch_of_the_Roman_Space_Telescope_(NASA_livestream).webmSource pageWhat happened
The mission carried 130 payloads (what a rocket is carrying) onboard the Falcon 9 rocket heading to a Sun-synchronous orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 11:32 a.m. SpaceX is a space company based in Hawthorne, and its products and services include Falcon.
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for launch from Vandenberg in this file photo. An artificial intelligence prototype from Google, a methane-tracker, pharmaceutical manufacturing labs, and more are hitching a ride onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flying from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday afternoon.
The Transporter-18 mission is SpaceX second launch of the day, following the successful flight of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission from Florida. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 11:32 a.m.
Sources & evidence
- Spaceflight Now Reporting source
Launch preview: More than 100 spacecraft hitch a ride to orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 ↗
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/10/01/live-coverage-ai-datacenter-prototypes-energy-redirection-demonstrators-and-more-launching-on-spacexs-transporter-18/