SpaceX Plans Three Rocket Launches in 13 Hours on October 1

SpaceX is set to conduct three separate rocket launches today, October 1, within a 13-hour timeframe. The first mission, the Crew-13 astronaut mission for NASA, is scheduled to lift off at 11:10 a.m. EDT (1510 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This Falcon 9 rocket will head toward the International Space Station.

Following this launch, the Transporter-18 rideshare mission is planned, which will deploy 130 payloads into orbit including a prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher AI constellation. This mission will take off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base during a 58-minute launch window starting at 2:18 p.m. EDT (1818 GMT; 11:18 a.m. local time).

The final launch of the day will feature a Falcon Heavy rocket, slated to launch the classified NROL-97 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 11:53 p.m. EDT (0353 GMT on October 2).

Live streams of all three launches will be available: Space.com will provide coverage of the Crew-13 launch, while SpaceX will broadcast the Transporter-18 and NROL-97 launches.

Today’s launches mark the second time SpaceX has attempted three missions in such a short period, the first being on March 14-15, 2025, when three Falcon 9 rockets were launched in a span of 12.5 hours.