SpaceX
Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission
SUCCESS
✓ Mission success
On 11 JAN · 13:44 UTC 2026, Falcon 9 Block 5 delivered Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission to Sun-Synchronous Orbit.
- T-0 (flown)
- 11 JAN · 13:44 UTC
- Window
- 57 min
- Rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Operator
- SpaceX
- Pad
- Space Launch Complex 4E · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Payload
- Pandora / Twilight rideshare mission
- Orbit
- Sun-Synchronous Orbit
Mission
The Pandora small satellite was selected in 2021 as an inaugural mission in NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers Program. It includes a 0.45-meter telescope that will improve our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres by disentangling exoplanet signals from their host stars, as well as studying host star variability with long-duration observations of 20 unique planets through visible-light photometry and near-infrared spectroscopy. Also launching on this launch are 39 other ride-share payloads under the "Falcon 9 Twilight mission" manifested by Exolaunch, including satellites from Spire Global and Kepler Communications.