https://spacewatch.global/tag/star-catcher-2/ AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON SPACE Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:08:18 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://spacewatch.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SpaceWatchGlobal-Sign-90x90.png https://spacewatch.global/tag/star-catcher-2/ 32 32 https://spacewatch.global/2026/10/spacex-launches-130-payloads-on-transporter-18-rideshare-mission/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78438 SpaceX has successfully launched its 18th Transporter rideshare mission, sending 130 payloads into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission demonstrates the scale of SpaceX’s recurring rideshare program, which provides commercial and institutional customers with regular access to orbit without requiring dedicated launches for individual spacecraft.]]> https://spacewatch.global/2026/09/star-catcher-google-and-blackwing-space-bring-new-orbital-technologies-to-transporter-18/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0000 https://spacewatch.global/?p=78303 SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission will carry 130 payloads to orbit, including Star Catcher’s Protostar orbital power demonstrator, Google’s Project Suncatcher AI-computing test and Blackwing Space’s Baby Bird nanosatellite. The diverse manifest highlights how a single rideshare mission is becoming a platform for testing new approaches to power, computing, Earth observation and commercial space infrastructure.]]>