Exolaunch, a global provider of launch mission management, satellite integration, and deployment services, will deploy a total of 68 customer satellites across two upcoming rideshare missions with SpaceX: 45 satellites aboard Transporter-18 and 23 aboard Bandwagon-5. Both missions are scheduled to launch on Falcon 9 rockets no earlier than October 2026.
Transporter-18 will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, while Bandwagon-5 will lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Executing two major launch campaigns simultaneously from opposite U.S. coasts demonstrates the scale of Exolaunch’s operations and its ability to provide customers with access to both sun-synchronous and mid-inclination orbits.
Across both missions, Exolaunch will serve 40 new and long-standing customers from Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and more.
The scale and diversity of the manifests reflect growing demand for launch capacity, integration services, deployment technologies, and operational expertise required to move satellites efficiently and reliably from production facilities to orbit. As the global satellite market grows, access to launch remains a complex operational bottleneck. Securing capacity is only one part of the challenge: satellite operators must also navigate mission planning, technical interfaces, environmental testing, integration, international logistics, regulatory requirements, and precise deployment. Exolaunch addresses these challenges through an integrated approach designed to help operators reach orbit reliably, whether deploying a single spacecraft or building a constellation.
Drawing on more than a decade of launch heritage and experience executing missions at scale, Exolaunch will provide customers across both campaigns with launch planning and capacity procurement, end-to-end mission management, environmental testing, satellite integration, global shipping and customs clearance, and deployment into orbit using its flight-proven technologies.
During these upcoming missions, Exolaunch will draw on its full portfolio of deployment technologies to support a diverse manifest spanning leading satellite constellations, CubeSats, and individual payloads weighing up to 1,000 kilograms. The missions will feature CarboNIX separation rings in multiple sizes; CarboNIX NEO separation rings for satellites up to 1,400 kilograms; Quadro Arrow separation systems; and EXOpod Nova deployers for CubeSats.
Exolaunch will also introduce Quadro Versa, its newest microsatellite separation system, during the Transporter-18 mission. Designed for satellites weighing up to 1,000 kilograms that use four-point interfaces, Quadro Versa combines high strength and stiffness with low tip-off rates. Its performance is enabled by Exolaunch’s proven synchronized-pusher mechanism.
Connor Pollock, Vice President of Launch and Engineering at Exolaunch, stated:
“Introducing Quadro Versa marks an important milestone in our mission to provide world-class separation systems for virtually any satellite design. It combines the strength and flexibility required by the next generation of spacecraft with the precise deployment performance our customers expect.”
Michael Tolstoj, Vice President of Launch and Engineering at Exolaunch, added:
“SpaceX has transformed access to orbit by building a rideshare program capable of launching at extraordinary scale. Exolaunch has grown alongside that program, developing the technical solutions and operational infrastructure required to turn launch capacity into reliable access to space. Managing 68 satellites across two simultaneous campaigns, at different launch sites and for different target orbits, demonstrates the scale at which our teams now operate.”
