TLDR
- SpaceX stock (SPCX) ticked up in pre-market trading on October 1 ahead of a packed launch schedule.
- The company planned three missions in roughly 13 hours, a feat achieved only once before.
- NASA’s Crew-13 mission launched astronauts to the ISS at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Florida.
- Transporter-18 lifted off from California carrying 130 payloads, including a Google AI satellite.
- SPCX carries a Moderate Buy rating with analyst targets implying over 50% upside.
SpaceX stock (SPCX) moved higher in pre-market trading on Thursday, October 1, rising 0.68%. The gain came as investors watched the company gear up for one of its busiest days in recent memory.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SPCX
SpaceX had three launches planned within about 13 hours. That pace has only been matched once before, back in March 2025.
The day started with NASA’s Crew-13 mission. It lifted off at 11:10 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Four astronauts rode a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft toward the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX cleared the mission after a final launch review on Wednesday.
Weather was the main wildcard. Forecasters put the odds of favorable launch conditions at around 55% to 60%.
What Transporter-18 Is Carrying
The second launch of the day was Transporter-18. It took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:18 p.m. EDT.
This rideshare mission carried 130 separate payloads into low-Earth orbit. One standout was a satellite called MOI-1A, built by India-based TakeMe2Space.
That satellite uses Nvidia (NVDA) processors. It can process Earth-observation data directly in orbit instead of sending raw data back to ground stations.
Google (GOOGL) also had a payload on board. It’s a prototype satellite for Project Suncatcher, Google’s plan to test AI chips in space.
The goal is to see how the chips hold up under radiation, heat, and other harsh orbital conditions. Google stock dipped slightly on the day, down 0.28%.
A Third Launch Capped Off the Night
The day wasn’t finished after Transporter-18. A Falcon Heavy rocket was set to launch the classified NROL-97 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Three Falcon rockets vertical at three of our launch pads in Florida and California → https://t.co/pHNWc7Rlzi pic.twitter.com/giArlNeRsS
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026
That launch was scheduled for 11:53 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center. It marked the third and final mission of SpaceX’s marathon day.
The only other time SpaceX pulled off three launches this close together was March 14-15, 2025. That stretch included the Crew-10 mission, a Transporter rideshare flight, and a batch of Starlink satellites.
This week’s activity also follows SpaceX’s 14th Starship test flight. That flight reached Earth orbit for the first time, a milestone for the program.
Analysts remain largely positive on SpaceX stock heading into the busy stretch. On TipRanks, SPCX holds a Moderate Buy consensus rating.
That rating is based on 27 Buy calls, five Holds, and two Sells. The average price target sits at $233.10, implying upside of about 55% from current levels.
Investors got a packed window into SpaceX’s full range of business lines in a single day. Crew transport, commercial rideshare, and national security launches all happened within hours of each other.
SpaceX will stream the Transporter-18 and NROL-97 launches on its own website. NASA covered the Crew-13 launch through its own channels.
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