NASA's SPRITE and SSPICY smallsats launched on Transporter-18

NASA-backed small spacecraft, including the SPRITE CubeSat and Starfish Space's Otter 24C for the SSPICY inspection mission, are in orbit. They rode SpaceX's Transporter-18 Falcon 9 off Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg at 11:32 a.m. Pacific on Thursday 1 October 2026. NASA's small-satellite blog said three agency-backed missions on that rideshare will push forward propulsion tech, far-ultraviolet galaxy science and close-up inspection of dead satellites.

Illustration: The Gold Standard

NASA's SPRITE and SSPICY smallsats launched on Transporter-18

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NASA's SPRITE and SSPICY smallsats launched on Transporter-18

Related · More in Space

Smile, the ESA and China space mission, starts its science work

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