SpaceX is poised to launch its latest national security payload for the United States Space Force with the Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled for liftoff on Thursday morning. This mission, designated USSF-153, will transport an undisclosed number of satellites into low Earth orbit.
The launch is set to occur at 8:42 a.m. PDT (11:42 a.m. EDT / 15:42 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Due to the classified nature of the mission, SpaceX has not provided a detailed post-launch timeline, although it has confirmed that the booster will land approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff.
The mission will utilize the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1081. This flight marks the 27th mission for this booster, which has previously supported four NASA missions, two missions for the National Reconnaissance Office, two for the European Space Agency, and 16 batches of Starlink satellites.
If successful, the landing of B1081 on the SpaceX droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, will represent the 224th landing on this vessel and the 660th Falcon booster landing overall.
The USSF-153 mission is part of SpaceX’s ongoing support for national security-related payloads, marking the fifth such mission this year. Previous missions include:
– January 16: NROL-105
– May 11: NROL-172
– July 16: Space Development Agency’s Third Tranche 1 Mission
– August 15: USSF-366
The most recent mission, USSF-366, was procured under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contract, although further details about that mission remain undisclosed.
Spaceflight Now has reached out to the Space Systems Command for additional information regarding the USSF-153 mission and will provide updates as they become available.
This article was produced by NeonPulse.today using human and AI-assisted editorial processes, based on publicly available information. Content may be edited for clarity and style.
