PADSIDE
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Transporter 18 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)

SpaceX · Falcon 9 Block 5 · Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

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Where it was visible

Daytime launch: visible as an exhaust trail near the pad.

  • Santa Barbara, CA87 kmSW, up to 31° from T+1:00Exhaust trail in daylight
  • Los Angeles, CA227 kmWSW, up to 21° from T+1:30Exhaust trail in daylight
  • Fresno, CA246 kmSSW, up to 14° from T+1:30Exhaust trail in daylight
  • San Jose, CA322 kmS, up to 12° from T+1:30Exhaust trail in daylight
  • San Diego, CA384 kmW, up to 18° from T+1:30Exhaust trail in daylight
  • Tijuana, Mexico406 kmWSW, up to 17° from T+2:00Exhaust trail in daylight

Estimates from a typical ascent toward the likely orbit. Real trajectories, cloud and haze vary; the farther away, the lower and shorter the view.

Mission

Dedicated rideshare flight to a sun-synchronous orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.

Launch time (UTC)
Oct 1, 18:32 UTC
Precision
Second
Window
Oct 1, 18:18 UTC – Oct 1, 19:16 UTC
Orbit
SSO
Mission type
Dedicated Rideshare
Pad
Space Launch Complex 4E

Rocket · Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Height
70 m
Diameter
3.65 m
Liftoff mass
549 t
Liftoff thrust
7,607 kN
To LEO
22,800 kg
To GTO
8,300 kg
Track record
639 / 640 successful
Success streak
342
First flight
2018-05-11
Reusable
Yes

Booster

  • B1082 — 25th flight. Landing (RTLS) on Landing Zone 4: landed.

Mission timeline

  1. T−38:00GO for Prop Load
  2. T−35:00Stage 1 LOX Load
  3. T−35:00Prop Load
  4. T−16:00Stage 2 LOX Load
  5. T−07:00Engine Chill
  6. T−01:00Startup
  7. T−01:00Tank Press
  8. T−00:45GO for Launch
  9. T−00:03Ignition
  10. T−0Liftoff
  11. T+01:04Max-Q
  12. T+02:14MECO
  13. T+02:18Stage 2 Separation
  14. T+02:26SES-1
  15. T+02:31Booster Boostback Burn Startup
  16. T+02:56Fairing Separation
  17. T+03:25Booster Boostback Burn Shutdown
  18. T+06:09Entry Burn Startup
  19. T+06:19Entry Burn Shutdown
  20. T+07:14Stage 1 Landing Burn
  21. T+07:32Stage 1 Landing
  22. T+08:24SECO-1
  23. T+50:56SES-2
  24. T+51:00SECO-2
  25. T+54:24Payload Deployment Sequence Start
  26. T+1:05:17Payload Deployment Sequence End

This is the 235th orbital launch attempt worldwide this year, SpaceX's 115th launch this year, the 300th launch from Space Launch Complex 4E.

Launch time changes · 1

  1. Oct 1, 16:57 UTC Slipped +10m to Oct 1, 18:32 UTC

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Full Vandenberg schedule →