Live coverage: AI datacenter prototypes, energy redirection demonstrators and more launching on SpaceX’s Transporter-18

1 min read · reported by Spaceflight Now

An artificial intelligence prototype from Google, a methane-tracker, pharmaceutical manufacturing labs, and more are hitching a ride onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flying from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday afternoon.

The Transporter-18 mission is SpaceX second launch of the day, following the successful flight of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission from Florida.

Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East is scheduled for 11:32 a.m. PDT (2:32 p.m. EDT / 1832 UTC). The rocket will head off on a southerly trajectory upon leaving the pad.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.

SpaceX will launch the mission using the Falcon 9 booster with the tail number B1082. This will be its 25th flight following the launches of NROL-145, USSF-62, and OneWeb Launch 20, and 21 batches of Starlink satellites.

Nearly 7.5 minutes after liftoff, B1082 will target a landing back at Landing Zone 4. This will be the 36th landing at this site and 665th landing of a Falcon booster to date.

The 130 payloads will be deployed into a polar orbit of the course of 11 minutes starting about 54 minutes into the flight.

Reported by Spaceflight Now. Reproduced unedited by Everything Space. View the original →