(Update: Deferred) SpaceX all set to launch its seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission, Transporter-7, to low-Earth orbit on Tuesday, April 11. This flight will carry 50 payloads including CubeSats, MicroSats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying spacecraft to be deployed at a later time.

The launch is set to take place at 11:48 p.m. PT (06:48 UTC on April 12) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The first stage booster launching the Transporter-7 mission has already supported the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission, which was launched in November 2020 to study sea level rise, NASA's DART mission, which was launched in September 2021 to test an asteroid deflection technology, and seven Starlink missions.

Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth and land on Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The live webcast will be available on SpaceX's official website as well as on various other online platforms. It will begin about 10 minutes prior to liftoff.

Now targeting no earlier than tomorrow, April 11 at 11:48 p.m. PT for a Falcon 9 launch of our seventh dedicated smallsat rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 4E in California; teams are keeping an eye on weather → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 11, 2023

The SpaceX Smallsat Rideshare Program is an innovative and cost-effective solution for smallsat operators who want to deploy their satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO), sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), and more.

Update 1

SpaceX is now targeting Thursday, April 13 at 11:47 p.m. PT (06:47 UTC on April 14) for Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-7 mission. The additional time will allow teams to complete pre-launch checkouts and for weather conditions to improve, the company said on Tuesday.