World News Update: SpaceX set to launch Transporter-18 from Vandenberg, California; Crew-13 already aloft from Florida

Launch: Falcon 9 Transporter-18 (before liftoff)

Rocket

SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

Launch site

Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Time (CT)

58-minute window opens at 1:22 p.m. CT Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026 (11:22 a.m. PT / 18:22 UTC). SpaceX lists a backup window Friday, Oct. 2 at the same time. Launch Library 2 status: Go for Launch (NET updated after a “New T-0” note).

Result

Awaiting liftoff. SpaceX mission page and Launch Library 2 both list the mission as Go.

Cargo

Dedicated smallsat rideshare to low-Earth / sun-synchronous orbit (SpaceX Transporter program). SpaceX says there are 130 payloads on this flight, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, two spacecraft with reentry vehicles, and four orbital transfer vehicles carrying 41 of those payloads for later deployment.

Booster

B1082, 25th flight (reused; previously USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20, NROL-145, and 21 Starlink missions). Planned landing: Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (RTLS).

Our view Another step toward Mars: stacking 130 smallsat customers on a high-flight-count reused Falcon 9 is how SpaceX keeps launch cadence and booster reuse high — the industrial base that feeds Starship work aimed at eventually carrying people to Mars.

A live webcast begins about 15 minutes before liftoff on SpaceX’s website and X (@SpaceX). Residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear sonic booms depending on weather, SpaceX noted.

World news since the 6 AM brief

• Crew-13 already flying: Falcon 9 lofted NASA crew from Florida this morning Hours before the Vandenberg window, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lofted NASA’s Crew-13 mission from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base at 10:10 a.m. CT, and booster B1101 landed on LZ-40 at about 10:18 a.m. CT. Commander Jessica Watkins, Pilot Luke Delaney, CSA astronaut Joshua Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov are aboard Crew Dragon Grace bound for the ISS. (NASA, NPR, World Brief Now)
• Flydubai cockpit attack still under investigation Investigators in Saudi Arabia are still sorting identity and motive after an alleged cockpit stabbing on a Dubai-to-Tel Aviv Flydubai flight that plunged thousands of feet before an emergency landing in Tabuk; Flydubai suspended Israel flights, AP reported. (Associated Press via The Hill)
• Trump frames Iran as escalate-or-deal; Pakistan–Afghanistan airstrike dispute continues President Trump said the U.S. must decide whether to “blow them up or make a deal” with Iran, Politico reported. Separately, Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Pakistani overnight airstrikes killed civilians in Kunar and Helmand; Islamabad said the strikes hit militant hideouts. (Politico, Al Jazeera / Reuters)

Crew-13 after-liftoff update

Earlier: the full 6 AM World Brief