SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Transporter 16 - SLC-4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA - March 30, 2026

Launch Date: March 30, 2025
Launch Time: 4:02 a.m. PDT, 1102 UTC, 13:02 CEST
Launch Window: Open until 4:16 a.m. PDT
Launch Site: SLC-4E - Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA
Targeted Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)
Launch Inclination: South
Launch Status: Nominal Orbit Insertion, 2nd stage landed successfully on the droneship, all payloads have been deployed successfully.

Mission: Transporter 16
Launch Provider: SpaceX
Launcher System: Falcon 9 (Booster B-1093)
Flight for the Booster: 12
Previous Flights of the Booster: 11 - SDA T1TL-B, SDA T1TL-C, and nine Starlink missions
Booster Landing: Droneship Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY)

Price: $69,75 million (without payload)
Diameter: 3,7 m
Height: 70 m
Payload to Orbit: 22,800 LEO / 8,300 GTO
Lift-Off Thrust: 7,607 kilonewtons
Fairing: Diameter 5,2 meters / Height 13 meters
Stages: 2

SpaceX targets March 29, 2026, a Falcon 9 launch for the Transporter 16 rideshare mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Transporter-16 is a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission. There are 119 payloads on this flight, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, a reentry vehicle, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying eight of those payloads to be deployed at a later time. To date, SpaceX has launched more than 1,600 payloads to orbit across our entire Rideshare program.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9 will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

Countdown
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff

Launch, Landing, and Deployment
All Times Approximate
Hr/Min/Sec Event
00:01:07 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:27 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:30 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:38 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)
00:03:07 Fairing separation
00:06:17 1st stage entry burn begins
00:06:41 1st stage entry burn ends
00:08:09 1st stage landing burn begins
00:08:19 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:08:33 1st stage landing
00:51:40 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)
00:51:44 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)
00:55:05 Rideshare deployment sequence begins

Видео SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Transporter 16 - SLC-4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA - March 30, 2026 канала SPACE AFFAIRS