- The Washington Times - Monday, October 19, 2026

SpaceX plans to launch its Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday morning as part of the company’s “rideshare” program in which the vessel carries satellites and re-entry vehicles into orbit.

The partially reusable rocket is scheduled to take flight in a one-hour window beginning at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

SpaceX said the “Bandwagon-5” mission will have “32 payloads including cubesats, microsats, and reentry vehicles” in tow when it leaves the atmosphere.

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The company’s “rideshare” program allows small satellite owners to join in on launches so their devices can begin circuiting the Earth. SpaceX said the reentry vehicles will be used to carry at least some of the satellites back to the planet.

This launch will be the 19th flight of the rocket’s booster, which will land on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean after detaching from the main vessel.

The launch was originally scheduled for Monday morning, but those plans were scrapped because of dicey weather.

SpaceX will livestream the launch on X.

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