Watch the Launch

Watch the Launch

Additional Media

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from California on secretive U.S. Space Force mission

Watch live coverage as SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket from California carrying a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 6:07:56 p.m. PDT / 9:07:56 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 16 (0107:56 UTC on …

USSF-259 Mission

Livestream on X

SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

USSF-259

Overview

Destination: Polar Orbit
Mission: Government/Top Secret

Polar Orbit Space Launch Complex 4E Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA Probability: 95%
B1097 - Of Course I Still Love You

USSF-259 is a classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of ascent rocket stage drop zones being fits with previous SDA Transport Layer launches.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 17, 2026, 11:17 a.m.

Launch success.


Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 17, 2026, 1:08 a.m.

Liftoff.


LL2 • Sept. 17, 2026, 12:52 a.m.

Unofficial Re-stream by SPACE AFFAIRS has started


Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 16, 2026, 5:06 p.m.

Now targeting Sep 17 at 01:07 UTC


Cosmic_Penguin • Sept. 16, 2026, 1:02 a.m.

Scrubbed for the day.


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
    ―
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
    ―
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
    ―
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    ―

Booster Info


B1097

Status: Active


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: September 3, 2025
Last Flight: September 17, 2026
Flights: 13
Landings Attempted: 13
Landings Successful: 13
Previous B1097 Flights

Landing Information

The Falcon 9 first stage B1097 has landed on ASDS OCISLY after its 13th flight.

Result: Successful Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship landing at Of Course I Still Love You.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 727 Failures: 15 Pending: 136

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI
NASASpaceflight

Launch Preview: Nine orbital launches scheduled from sites around the world

Nine orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. Two Falcon 9s are expected to deliver… The post Launch Preview: Nine orbital launches scheduled from sites around the world appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: SpaceX to launch national security payload for the U.S. Space Force on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

The rocket will carry an unspecified number of satellites to orbit. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for 7:18 p.m. PDT (10:18 p.m. EDT / 0218 UTC).

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Space Launch Complex 4E


Falcon 9
Success
11 hours, 16 minutes ago
Starlink Group 15-16
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 8A
Success
2 days, 16 hours ago
SatNet LEO Group 28
Commercial LC-1 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 19 hours ago
Starlink Group 15-15
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Long March 4B
Success
3 days, 23 hours ago
Yaogan 53-07 to 09/56-19 to 21
Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

6 Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purposes.


Long March 6A
Success
4 days, 8 hours ago
Yaogan 50-03
Launch Complex 9A - Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

The Yaogan 50-03 is a Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purposes.


Electron
Success
4 days, 11 hours ago
We're Not Hawking Around (3x HawkEye 360)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

HawkEye 360 is a a space-based civil global intelligence satellite network using radio frequency (RF) technology to help monitor transportation acros…


Ceres-1S
Success
6 days, 15 hours ago
Xiguang-4 01
Rizhao offshore launch location - Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

0.5 meter resolution Earth observation satellite for the city of Guangzhou government and Guangzhou University with multi-spectral imaging capability…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week ago
Bandwagon 5 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…


H3-24
Success
1 week ago
Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

MMX is a Japanese scientific mission to land on Phobos, one of the two moons of Mars, to collect samples before bringing them back to Earth. The m…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 4 days ago
USSF-481
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bu…