Rideshare

Five 'Rideshare' stories June 2021 - January 2025

A rideshare mission is an orbital launch where more than one satellite operator shares the space inside the rocket fairing to lower the overall cost of the rocket. With the recent rise in CubeSat technology and popularity, this form of rocket launch sharing has become extremely popular.

Rideshare programs are the primary source of competition to dedicated SmallSat launches provided by companies like Rocket Lab.

SpaceX debuted its rideshare program in 2021 with Transporter-1. The program has lowered the price to orbit to as low as $300,000, undercutting pretty much any dedicated launch provider on the market, making it extremely hard to compete.

Mark Rober launched a space selfie satellite powered by a Google Pixel

Seth Kurkowski Jan 17 2025 - 12:48 pm PT

2 Comments

Former JPL employee turned YouTuber, Mark Rober, launched his very own satellites to space on the recent SpaceX Transporter-12 mission. The purpose was to snap a photo of a Google Pixel showing a selfie sent by his fans.

Expand Expanding Close

This Week in Launch: All aboard the SpaceX Bandwagon!

Seth Kurkowski Apr 1 2024 - 10:04 am PT

1 Comment

This week SpaceX will be launching as many as four Falcon 9s, mostly for its internal programs like Starlink. One, however, will be for its rideshare program with a new name, Bandwagon. Although Monday’s Starlink mission out of California has potential to be an amazing twilight launch for local residents.

Expand Expanding Close

SpaceX nails three launch weekend (ish) featuring two RTLS landings

Seth Kurkowski Nov 12 2023 - 5:39 pm PT

1 Comment

Over the weekend, SpaceX launched three Falcon 9 rockets from all three of its launch pads. The missions were all commercially purchased wither by NASA, SES, or in part of a rideshare program. Two out of the three flights featured RTLS landings at LZ-1 and 4, a rare occurrence.

Expand Expanding Close

[Update: All payloads deployed] SpaceX to launch second dedicated rideshare mission from Florida

Seth Kurkowski Jun 30 2021 - 11:11 am PT

0 Comments

SpaceX will launch 88 satellites into a Sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth. This will be SpaceX’s second dedicated rideshare mission and host companies like Spaceflight Inc, ExoLaunch, and D-Orbit who will deploy the bulk of the payloads with their specialized deployment system. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch south, down the coast of Florida, and then the first stage will perform the first RTLS landing of 2021, back at LZ-1.

Date: Wednesday, June 30th

Expand Expanding Close

Rideshare

Mark Rober launched a space selfie satellite powered by a Google Pixel

This Week in Launch: All aboard the SpaceX Bandwagon!

SpaceX nails three launch weekend (ish) featuring two RTLS landings

Apple @ Work: The knocks against Apple Silicon get smaller as x86 emulation arrives

Siri with promised Apple Intelligence upgrades may not be fully ready until iOS 18.5

Gentler Streak gains new Home Screen widgets with health metrics

CardPointers helps you maximize your credit card rewards [Save 50%]

Security Bite: A dangerous place to be an iPhone

[Update: All payloads deployed] SpaceX to launch second dedicated rideshare mission from Florida