SpaceX has three rocket launches planned for October 1. The missions will send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), carry 130 payloads into space and launch a secret national security payload. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has a busy day, with three rocket launches planned across the US. Two launches will take place in Florida and one in California.
The first mission, Crew-13, will carry four astronauts to the ISS. The four crew members will travel aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule mounted on a Falcon 9 rocket. The Crew-13 launch is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. The astronauts are expected to reach the International Space Station by 7 pm ET, according to USA Today. Four astronauts are part of the Crew-13 mission. A Falcon 9 rocket will carry the astronauts into space. The two-stage rocket is around 230 feet tall and provides the thrust needed to send the Dragon capsule into orbit. Falcon 9 is also described as the world’s most active rocket. SpaceX’s second launch will carry 130 payloads into orbit. The Transporter-18 rideshare mission is scheduled to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California. Its launch window is set to open at 2:18 p.m. ET and will remain open for 58 minutes, according to a launch alert cited by USA Today. Transporter-18 will carry payloads for commercial and civil customers.
The three launches will take place at different locations. The first rocket will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The second will take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California. The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, under which the US space agency works with private companies such as SpaceX to transport astronauts to space. Eastern Time (ET). NASA and SpaceX are preparing for the launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. They are NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. They will travel to the ISS aboard the Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX runs rideshare missions to help customers send smaller spacecraft and satellites into orbit by sharing space aboard a single rocket.
This allows multiple customers to use the same launch rather than arrange separate rocket launches, according to the company’s mission information. The third launch is planned at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to USA Today.
