Falcon 9 to carry 32 rideshare payloads on Bandwagon-5 from Florida

First reported 18 Oct, 22:29 UTCSource: NASASpaceFlightLast editorial activity 18 Oct, 22:29 UTCWrite a comment ↓

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According to NASASpaceFlight, SpaceX's Falcon 9 is expected to lift off on Monday, October 19, from Florida with 32 rideshare payloads for the Bandwagon-5 mission. The flight comes after the Transporter 18 mission earlier this month and also carries the second of SpaceX's Starfall capsules.

Launch timing and deployment sequence

The launch window is one hour long and opens at 6:30 AM EDT, which corresponds to 10:30 UTC. The rocket will head southeast toward low-Earth orbit. Payload release is scheduled to start at T+57:18 minutes, and the final Starfall payload is set for deployment at T+02:48:28 hours.

Affordable access for smaller customers

SpaceX's Transporter and Bandwagon rideshare missions are open to small satellite companies, government bodies and educational institutions, which can send payloads of up to 50 kg for $350,000. That is considerably less than a full Falcon 9 launch. Exolaunch, a launch services and mission management provider, is manifesting 22 customer satellites on Bandwagon-5.

Starfall capsule and planned recovery

Starfall is a disk-shaped reentry vehicle that can stay in space indefinitely and be recovered by SpaceX whenever required. Cold-gas nitrogen thrusters on its top plate orient the capsule during reentry, and a jettisonable heat shield and parachute-assisted splashdown complete the design. The first Starfall Demo flew on June 23 aboard Falcon 9. Initial recovery tests are planned for the Pacific Ocean, about 1,300 km off the coast of the United States or Mexico.

SpaceX plans to use the capsules for point-to-point cargo delivery and for transporting goods manufactured in microgravity. The company intends to launch them aboard its super-heavy-lift Starship eventually, with several capsules possibly flying together.

Booster flying its 19th mission

The booster assigned to the mission, B1085, will be flying for the 19th time. Its earlier flights include Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SXM-10, MTG-S1, EchoStar XXV, SXM-11 and ten Starlink missions.

Open questions

Will the Starfall capsule be recovered during the planned Pacific test?
Will the launch take place within the one-hour window on Monday?

Key facts

SpaceX's Falcon 9 is expected to launch 32 rideshare payloads for the Bandwagon-5 mission on Monday, October 19.

The launch follows the Transporter 18 mission at the start of the month.

The mission also carries the second Starfall capsule, mounted atop the satellite stack.

Rideshare missions let customers launch payloads of up to 50 kg for $350,000.