SpaceX Launches Three Falcons in a Day as Crew-13 Docks in Under Eight Hours, Google Sends Its First AI Chip to Orbit, and Raytheon Lands an SM-6 Contract Worth Up to $24.4B

[ 01 ]

The briefing

SpaceX launched three Falcon rockets on October 1 and landed four boosters in a day for the first time. Crew-13 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:10 a.m. EDT with NASA's Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canada's Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, and docked at the ISS 7 hours and 55 minutes later, the fastest trip to the station by a Dragon. Transporter-18 followed from Vandenberg with 130 payloads, and at 11:54 p.m. EDT a Falcon Heavy flew NROL-97, its first mission for the NRO, expending a new center core and recovering both side boosters.

Planet Labs flew the first prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher on Transporter-18, putting a Google Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) in orbit for the first time; Google expects a two-satellite demonstration next year on the way to an 81-satellite orbital data center. Spire Global launched the first three satellites built at its Boulder, Colorado, plant, and Starfish Space's first Otter servicing vehicle, Meridian Space's first satellite, CesiumAstro's Element and power-beaming demonstrators from StarCatcher and Cowboy Space also flew. Satlyt, whose software for running AI models across satellites was on the flight, raised an $8 million seed round.

Raytheon secured a five-year contract with two option years, worth up to $24.4 billion, for Standard Missile-6 interceptors for the U.S. Navy. Airbus Defence and Space delivered 32 OneWeb satellites to Eutelsat from Toulouse, the first of 669 that will renew the constellation, ahead of a launch in the United States. The Pentagon's Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund hired Overview Energy to build and test a homing beacon for beaming solar power from orbit, Norway's government said it will pay almost €60 million for a second launch pad at Andøya, and Skyrora moved its orbital launch target to 2030.

[ 02 / 6 items ]

The headlines

Crew-13 docks at the ISS 7 hours and 55 minutes after launch, the fastest Dragon trip yet

SpaceX

NASA's SpaceX Crew-13 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral at 11:10 a.m. EDT on October 1 with commander Jessica Watkins, pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, and docked at the station's Harmony module at 7:05 p.m., 7 hours and 55 minutes later. It was the fastest trip to the station by a Dragon, beating the 12 hours of the uncrewed CRS-31 cargo flight, helped by a reboost of the station by Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL on September 25. Watkins became the first NASA astronaut to fly twice on a Crew Dragon.

Google's first chip in orbit launches on Transporter-18 aboard a Planet Labs satellite

SpaceX PL

SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare lifted 130 payloads from Vandenberg at 11:32 a.m. Pacific on October 1, including the first prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher, built by Planet Labs and fitted with a Google Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), the first time the company has sent one of its advanced chips to space. Travis Beals, the Google executive who runs the project, said the chip will run in 15-minute bursts to avoid straining the satellite's power and thermal systems, and that a two-satellite demonstration linked by lasers is expected to fly next year.

Falcon Heavy flies its first NRO mission

SpaceX

SpaceX launched NROL-97 from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 11:54 p.m. EDT on October 1, the Falcon Heavy's 14th flight and its first for the NRO, which had flown payloads on 22 Falcon 9 rockets. The new center core, B1106, was expended, and side boosters B1104 and B1072 returned to Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral. NROL-97 was the first NRO mission to fly after being procured in 2025 through the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 contract. It was SpaceX's third Falcon launch of the day and the first time the company landed four boosters in one day.

Raytheon lands an SM-6 contract worth up to $24.4B over five years

RTX

Raytheon secured a five-year contract with two additional option years, valued at up to $24.4 billion, for Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptors for the U.S. Navy. The company calls SM-6 the only combat-proven weapon that can perform anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and ballistic missile defense. Raytheon president Phil Jasper said the company is investing in its operations and facilities to raise capacity, and it has added workers, industrial-base partnerships and automation.

Spire launches the first three satellites built at its Boulder plant

SpaceX SPIR

Spire Global launched the first three satellites built at its manufacturing facility in Boulder, Colorado, on Transporter-18. Chief executive Theresa Condor said the site gives Spire end-to-end satellite production on U.S. soil for national security and defense customers, and that with its production in the U.K. and Europe the company can build 300 to 400 satellites a year.

Airbus delivers the first 32 satellites of Eutelsat's OneWeb renewal

AIR ETL

Airbus Defence and Space delivered 32 OneWeb low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to Eutelsat, the first wave of the 669 new spacecraft that will renew the constellation. The satellites are being prepared for shipment from Airbus's production facility in Toulouse ahead of a launch in the United States, and will progressively replace OneWeb satellites nearing the end of their operational lives. Airbus recently moved its satellite series production line back to Europe.

[ 03 / +11 / -33 ]

Market pulse

Archived snapshot from this edition. Prices and moves are not live.

Gainers+11

Decliners-33

Big mover SATL-8.5%

PL: SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare lifted 130 payloads from Vandenberg at 11:32 a.m. Pacific on October 1, including the first prototype satellite for Google's Project Suncatcher.

Asset	Snapshot	Move
PKEPark Aerospace	$27.22	+3.2%
RBCRBC Bearings	$510.00	+1.3%
TDGTransDigm	$1,119.94	+1.1%
SATLSatellogic	$4.71	-8.5%
PLPlanet Labs	$15.96	-7.1%
SIDUSidus Space	$1.44	-7.1%

[ 04 / 8 in window ]

Filings

144

Spire Global, Inc. · 144

2026-10-02 · Spire Global, Inc. filed 144 through EDGAR.

144

Viasat, Inc. · 144

2026-10-02 · Viasat, Inc. filed 144 through EDGAR.

Form 4

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. · Form 4

2026-10-01 · AST SpaceMobile, Inc. filed a Form 4 ownership update: Wayne Thorsen (EVP & Chief Commercial Officer) received 200,000 Class A shares (200,000 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. · 3

2026-10-01 · AST SpaceMobile, Inc. filed a 3 ownership update; no operating, financing, or governance event is attached to the filing.

Form 4 x2

Lockheed Martin Corporation · Form 4 x2

2026-10-01 · Lockheed Martin Corporation grouped 2 Form 4 ownership updates: John Donovan (director) received 97 shares (1,666 shares after); David B. Burritt (director) received 83 shares (11,633 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

Form 4 x4

BlackSky Technology Inc. · Form 4 x4

2026-10-01 · BlackSky Technology Inc. grouped 4 Form 4 ownership updates: Susan M. Gordon (director) received 1,055 Class A shares (85,612 shares after); James R. Tolonen (director) received 1,055 Class A shares (86,906 shares after); William D. Porteous (director) received 1,055 Class A shares (88,378 shares after); Magid M. Abraham (director) received 1,055 Class A shares (73,985 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

[ End of Issue 090 ]

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