SpaceX Launches 130 Payloads on Transporter-18 Including Google's First Orbital AI Chip Test

SpaceX launched its Transporter-18 rideshare mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on October 1, delivering 130 payloads to low Earth orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The company has now launched more than 1,800 payloads through its rideshare programme. The same day also saw the launch of NASA's Crew-13 mission from Cape Canaveral, marking two Falcon 9 launches in a single day.

The headline payload was Google's Project Suncatcher pathfinder satellite, carrying the company's tensor processing units into orbit for the first time. The programme, revealed in November 2025, aims to explore whether space could host scalable machine learning infrastructure powered by continuous solar energy. The pathfinder will assess how TPUs withstand space radiation and how efficiently they dissipate heat in orbit.

The mission also carried Kyrgyzstan's first-ever satellite, a milestone for the Central Asian nation's emerging space programme. Starfish Space's SSPICY mission, backed by NASA small-business investment, will test robotic inspection and servicing technologies expected to operate for two years with inspections beginning in 2027.

The broader significance lies in the growing competition for orbital computing. SpaceX has announced plans for its own Starmind AI satellites powered by Nvidia chips, targeting late 2027, and has filed for permission to deploy up to one million data centre satellites. Google, SpaceX and others are betting that the combination of uninterrupted solar power, near-zero cooling costs and freedom from terrestrial land constraints could make space-based AI infrastructure economically viable at scale.