SpaceX’s Bandwagon-3 Mission Delivers a New Wave of Small Satellites to Orbit

Cape Canaveral, FL., (April 21, 2025)- A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on April 21, 2025, at 8:48 p.m., carrying the Bandwagon-3 mission into the night sky and continuing the company’s push to make space more accessible for small satellite operators around the world.

Launching as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program, Bandwagon-3 was a dedicated rideshare flight designed specifically for smaller spacecraft heading to mid-inclination orbits. Instead of flying as secondary payloads on larger missions, customers on Bandwagon-3 were given their own mission profile, allowing for more precise deployment timing and orbital targeting—an increasingly important capability for commercial, research, and government satellite operators.

The Falcon 9 rocket rose from Florida’s Space Coast just after sunset, its exhaust plume lighting up the clouds as it climbed toward orbit. After stage separation, the first stage booster executed a series of controlled burns and successfully returned for landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic, continuing SpaceX’s routine reuse of flight-proven hardware.

Bandwagon-3 carried a diverse set of ESPA-class small satellites, each weighing up to 50 kilograms, representing everything from Earth-observation and communications to experimental technology demonstrations. Under SpaceX’s rideshare model, customers can book missions for as little as $300,000, dramatically lowering the financial barrier to placing satellites in orbit and opening the door to startups, universities, and emerging space nations.

Roughly an hour after liftoff, the Falcon 9 upper stage began deploying the satellites in carefully timed sequences. Each spacecraft then initiated its own post-deployment procedures, activating onboard systems and maneuvering toward its assigned orbital slot within the mid-inclination trajectory.

The Bandwagon series has quickly become a cornerstone of SpaceX’s commercial launch business, offering a predictable and affordable path to orbit in an industry that has traditionally been dominated by high-cost, bespoke missions. With Bandwagon-3 now successfully in orbit, SpaceX further strengthened its role as a key enabler of the rapidly growing small satellite economy.

As more operators look to deploy constellations and specialized spacecraft, missions like Bandwagon-3 are helping reshape how access to space is bought and sold—turning what was once a rare opportunity into a regular, reliable ride to orbit.