SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NASA’s Pandora small satellite

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s Pandora small satellite lifted off at 5:44 a.m. PST Sunday, Jan., according to NASA.

A photo from early January 2026 shows teams preparing to encapsulate NASA’s Pandora small satellite, the NASA‑sponsored Star‑Planet Activity Research CubeSat (SPARCS), and the Black Hole Coded Aperture Telescope (BlackCAT) CubeSat inside a Falcon 9 payload fairing.

The account of the launch appeared on NASA Science; additional details beyond the excerpt provided were not included in the material supplied here.

Key Topics

Science, Pandora Satellite, Nasa, Sparcs Cubesat, Blackcat Cubesat