View of a SpaceX payload fairing interior showing mounted satellites and hardware arranged along the center structure, surrounded by the curved black fairing walls.

Transporter-18 SmallSats Encapsulation

Three NASA-supported small spacecraft, shown along with many commercial payloads, before being encapsulated in a SpaceX Falcon 9. The rocket launched the payloads into low-Earth orbit at 11:32 a.m. PDT Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, as part of the company’s Transporter-18 mission from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Image Credit: SpaceX

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TakenOctober 1, 2026

Image CreditSpaceX

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Transporter-18 SmallSats Encapsulation