SpaceX Launches 74 Payloads on the Transporter-13 Rideshare Mission
Falcon 9 completes launching 74 rideshare payloads to orbit. Photo: SpaceX
SpaceX launched 74 payloads on the Transporter-13 mission on Friday in its second rideshare mission of 2025.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:43 p.m. PT on March 14. SpaceX has launched over 1,200 payloads to orbit for more than 130 customers across the rideshare program. This was the 13th flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission.
Rideshare integrator Exolaunch deployed 27 customer satellites on the mission, along with the first flight of its Quadro four-point separation system. Exolaunch deployed four Iceye satellites, including the company’s new Generation 4 satellite (Gen4). Iceye said its Gen4 satellite doubles the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) antenna size and power, increasing imaging area and capacity while adding orbit control for targeting.
Other Exolaunch customers included seven satellites for Spire Global, Endurosat, Turion Space, Yonsei University, Startical, SpaceBey, HEX20, Rogue Space, Orb Astro, U-Space, Loft Orbital, and others.
Muon Space sent its FireSat Protoflight satellite which focuses on global wildfire detection, monitoring, and response, deployed by Exolaunch.
Varda Space Industries’ third orbital processing and reentry capsule, W-3, launched on the Transporter-13. W-3’s payload was a navigation system, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), developed by the U.S. Air Force and Innovative Scientific Solutions Incorporated (ISSI).
Sidus Space launched the LizzieSat-3 aboard the Transporter-13 mission, joining the LizzieSat-1 and 2 in orbit. LizzieSat-3 is equipped with Sidus Orlaith, an AI ecosystem that allows on-orbit data processing for applications such as space situational awareness, maritime monitoring, and disaster response.
On the Transporter-13 mission, Interstellar Communication launched its first icMercury PocketQube satellite carrying hardware payload to test a low-power active graphene radiator for research, Earth observation, and communication in space
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace launched Arvaker I, the first of three microsatellites for its N3X constellation, marking the beginning of a five-year contract to provide maritime surveillance data to the Norwegian government. The Arvaker I satellite plans to enhance maritime security by supplying data to various Norwegian agencies. Kongsberg subsidiary Kongsberg NanoAvionics built the satellite based on the MP42H microsatellite bus.
Rideshare provider SEOPS worked with Maverick Space Systems and ISISPACE to prepare 23 customer spacecraft from five countries. This included three spacecraft — Orbital Calibration 2b (OrCa2b), Buccaneer Main Mission (BMM), and Rapid Agile Production of ThinSats (RapSat-1) — that the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command contracted SEOPS to deploy.
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