• Customers: Xona Space, NearSpace Launch, Missile Defense Agency, MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
• Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon 9
• Launch Location: Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
• Destination: Sun Synchronous orbit, 525km
• Total spacecraft: 5

On May 25 at 11:35am PT, Transporter 5, a SpaceX dedicated rideshare mission successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Spaceflight procured and integrated spacecraft for five customers onboard the mission: Xona Space, NearSpace Launch, Missile Defense Agency, and MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

This mission represents Spaceflight’s sixth of the year and the 51st overall, with 553 spacecraft launched to date!

This mission was especially noteworthy as it was the debut of Spaceflight’s next variation of Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle, Sherpa-AC. This Sherpa augments the base (free-flier) Sherpa model with key capabilities including a flight computer, attitude knowledge & control, and an electrical power system — making it an ideal platform for servicing hosted payloads. It carried the hosted payloads for Xona Space and NearSpace Launch.

Photo credits — SpaceX