SpaceX launches 131 spacecraft on Transporter-12 Falcon 9 rideshare mission from California – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX launches 131 spacecraft on Transporter-12 Falcon 9 rideshare mission from California – Spaceflight Now
A Falcon 9 rocket roars away from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 14, 2025, on the Transporter 12 mission. Image: Space X.

SpaceX launched 131 payloads Tuesday aboard the company’s 12th smallsat rideshare mission to date.

The Transporter-12 mission flew aboard a Falcon 9 rocket that lifted off from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 11:09 AM PST (2:09 PM EST, 1909 UTC).

The Falcon 9 booster used on Tuesday’s flight, tail number B1088 in the SpaceX fleet, launched for the second time. It previously launched the NROL-126 mission, which was a combination of 20 Starlink V2 Mini satellites and an undisclosed number of Starshield satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.

About 7.5 minutes after launch, B1088 touched down at Landing Zone 4, located near the launch pad. It marked the 23rd booster landing at LZ-4 and the 397th booster landing to date.

Exolaunch technicians integrate a payload for the German-based research university, Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). They are one of dozens of customers flying aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-12 smallsat rideshare mission. Image: Exolaunch

The dozens of payloads that flew were from a myriad of customers from around the world, from research institutes and aerospace companies to other government space agencies, such as the United Arab Emirates’ Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Center.

MBRSC’s MBZ-SAT, an Earth observation satellite, is named after the country’s President, HH Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The agency said the satellite is designed to process and transmit images within two hours to “provide insights for applications such as environmental monitoring, disaster relief and infrastructure management, enabling decision makers to act quickly and effectively.”

Other Earth observation satellites include Planet Labs PBC’s high-resolution Pelican-2 satellite along with 36 of its SuperDoves.

“This Pelican satellite is designed to give up 40 cm class resolution images across 6 multispectral bands optimized for cross-sensor analysis,” Planet wrote in a pre-launch statement. “In addition, Planet has collaborated with NVIDIA to equip Pelican-2 with the NVIDIA Jetson platform to drive on-orbit computing – with the aim of significantly reducing the time between data capture and value for customers.”

A rendering of the Pelican-2 satellite. Graphics: Planet

Spire Global’s two Low Earth Multi-Use Receiver (LEMUR) 3 satellites, along with four other satellites, are also making a trip to space. The LEMUR 3 CubeSats are designed to help improve weather forecasting, maritime surveillance and increase Internet-of-Things connectivity, according to the company.

“Two LEMUR 3 satellites, developed in collaboration with Myriota, will expand global IoT coverage with breakthrough direct-to-circuit communications, enabling Myriota’s IoT solutions to operate seamlessly and more efficiently,” Spire said in a pre -launch statement. “This network will improve connectivity to critical sectors such as agriculture, defense and logistics across regions such as the US, Europe and Latin America, promoting sustainability and efficient resource management.”

Spire’s satellites are among the 35 satellites flown by satellite installation and hosting company Exolaunch.

“Transporter-11 was a landmark mission for us, and as we look forward to Transporter-12, we’re excited to keep the momentum going,” said Robert Sproles, Exolaunch CEO, in a pre-launch statement. “We deeply appreciate the trust our customers place in us and thank SpaceX for their outstanding support.

“Our long-standing partnership with SpaceX has been a cornerstone of Exolaunch’s growth, and it’s an honor to be a part of every Transporter mission.”

The satellite deployment began about 54 minutes after launch with the launch of the GESat and GEN1 satellites by Exolaunch and ended more than two hours and 22 minutes after launch with the launch of Firefly-2 by Pixxel, also via Exolaunch.