SpaceX Transporter-18 mission scheduled to launch from Vandenberg

SpaceX is scheduled to launch the Transporter-18 mission via a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday, Oct. 1. The launch window is set between 11:18 a.m. and 12:16 p.m. Pacific Time, with a backup window available on Friday, Oct. 2.

The mission is a smallsat rideshare launch carrying 130 separate payloads into a low-Earth, sun-synchronous orbit. These payloads include cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, reentry vehicles, and orbital transfer vehicles.

A key payload is Carbon Mapper’s Tanager-2 satellite, which is part of a constellation designed to monitor environmental indicators such as methane and CO2. Developed using technology from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, these satellites will assist the California Air Resources Board in identifying and reducing industrial and energy-related methane emissions.

The mission also involves the return of the first-stage booster, which is making its 25th flight, to Landing Zone 4 approximately seven minutes after liftoff.