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. had three launches planned within about 13 hours, a pace that has only been matched once before, back in March 2025. At one point during the day, three Falcon rockets stood vertical on three of the company's launch pads across Florida and California. The roughly 13-hour span covered launches from both of SpaceX's primary coasts.

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, carrying four astronauts toward the International Space Station aboard a 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. NASA and SpaceX cleared the mission after a final launch review on Wednesday. Weather was the main wildcard, with forecasters putting the odds of favorable launch conditions at around 55% to 60%. The flight also continues the same numbered crew series that featured Crew-10 during SpaceX's previous triple-launch stretch in March 2025.

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. The rideshare mission carried 130 separate payloads into low-Earth orbit. Transporter flights bundle small satellites from different customers into a single launch, a format SpaceX has repeated across multiple missions, including one in the March 2025 stretch.

One standout was a satellite called MOI-1A, built by India-based TakeMe2Space. That satellite uses Nvidia (NVDA) processors, and 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 is 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. As a prototype, it represents an early experimental step for the project rather than an operational deployment. Google stock dipped slightly on the day, down 0.28%.

A Third Launch Capped Off the Night

The day was not finished after Transporter-18. A Falcon Heavy rocket was set to launch the classified NROL-97 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Few details about the payload are public due to its classified nature. Liftoff was scheduled for 11:53 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center, marking the third and final mission of SpaceX's marathon day. If the mission lifted off on schedule, it would close out only the second triple-launch day in the company's history.

Three Falcon rockets vertical at three of our launch pads in Florida and California → pic.twitter.com/giArlNeRsS — SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026 (x.com)

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 followed 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 SPCX

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. Consensus ratings and price targets reflect analyst opinion rather than guarantees of future performance.

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, giving a direct view of the day's remaining missions. NASA covered the Crew-13 launch through its own channels.

Source: CoinCentral