SpaceX's Transporter-17: Midnight Falcon 9 Carries 81 Small Satellites, FireSat and 3D-Printing Demos

SpaceX will launch the Transporter-17 mission from Vandenberg at 12:12 a.m. PDT, sending 81 small satellites from around the world into a Sun-synchronous orbit as part of the Smallsat Rideshare Program. Exolaunch-manifested payloads account for 49 satellites, including Muon Space’s FireSat trio for wildfire detection (Earth Fire Alliance), along with other satellites such as Iceye SARs and UAE’s Leonav-1; Maverick Space Systems contributes Osiris-A, while Orbital Matter’s Replicator-2 demonstrates onboard 3D printing and deployable solar arrays. The first stage (B1097) will land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You after ascent, and SpaceX will perform additional upper-stage burns to deploy satellites over roughly 2.5 hours.