---
type: source
title: "SpaceX delivers 119 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit on Transporter-16"
author: "NASASpaceFlight Staff (@NASASpaceflight)"
url: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/03/spacex-delivers-119-payloads-sun-synchronous-orbit-transporter-16/
date: 2026-03-25
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: null-result
priority: low
tags: [spacex, falcon-9, transporter-16, rideshare, smallsat, sso]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

SpaceX's Transporter-16 dedicated rideshare mission successfully delivered 119 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit (approximately March 25, 2026). This is the 16th dedicated rideshare mission under the Transporter program, which began in January 2021. The program has consistently delivered 60-120+ payloads per mission to SSO.

## Agent Notes

**Why this matters:** Transporter-16 with 119 payloads confirms SpaceX's rideshare dominance continues at scale. The rideshare program aggregates demand that individually couldn't justify dedicated launches — it's the mechanism by which cost reduction democratizes access. 16 missions over ~5 years (early 2021 to early 2026) = roughly 3-4 per year, sustaining a consistent cadence.

**What surprised me:** 119 payloads is toward the high end of Transporter missions. Continued high customer density suggests the smallsat market is healthy and SSO rideshare demand remains strong even with growing competition from Rocket Lab Electron and other small launchers.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Breakdown of payload types (commercial, defense, academic), whether any Kuiper prototypes or Starlink test articles were included, and pricing trends relative to earlier Transporter missions.

**KB connections:**
- `SpaceX vertical integration across launch broadband and manufacturing creates compounding cost advantages that no competitor can replicate piecemeal` — Transporter-16 is further evidence of the rideshare flywheel: high customer count → learning curve → cost reduction → more customers
- `Varda Space Industries validates commercial space manufacturing` — Varda has used SpaceX rideshare for capsule returns; Transporter missions are part of that ecosystem

**Extraction hints:**
- This is confirmatory evidence for existing claims; unlikely to generate new claims
- The data point (119 payloads, Transporter 16) may be useful to cite as evidence in the SpaceX rideshare market claim if it exists in KB

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: `SpaceX vertical integration across launch broadband and manufacturing creates compounding cost advantages that no competitor can replicate piecemeal`
WHY ARCHIVED: Confirmatory evidence of SpaceX rideshare dominance at scale; 119 payloads on Transporter-16 (early 2026)
EXTRACTION HINT: Confirmatory, not generative — cite as evidence in existing claims rather than extracting new ones
