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SpaceX Launches Record 130-Payload Transporter-18 Mission

By Drooid · Oct 3, 2026, 6:10 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

SpaceX launched the Transporter-18 rideshare mission, carrying Google’s Project Suncatcher AI-hardware satellite into low Earth orbit.
The Falcon 9 deployed 130 payloads, the most since the 143-payload Transporter-1 record in January 2021.
Google’s satellite will test Tensor Processing Units’ performance under space radiation and heat, a watershed moment for orbital computing.
Cowboy Space’s Reason-1 satellite aims to demonstrate high-power laser power-beaming from orbit to ground.

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Story summary

SpaceX launched the Transporter-18 rideshare mission, carrying Google’s Project Suncatcher AI-hardware satellite into low Earth orbit.
The Falcon 9 deployed 130 payloads, the most since the 143-payload Transporter-1 record in January 2021.
Google’s satellite will test Tensor Processing Units’ performance under space radiation and heat, a watershed moment for orbital computing.
Cowboy Space’s Reason-1 satellite aims to demonstrate high-power laser power-beaming from orbit to ground.