AI Insight
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-153 mission for the U.S. Space Force on September 10 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California using a Falcon 9 rocket. The payload details remain undisclosed, though analysts suggest it may involve classified low Earth orbit satellites based on SpaceX's Starshield platform, which adapts Starlink technology for national security purposes. The mission's first-stage booster successfully landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff, marking the 27th flight for this particular booster.
Why it matters
This launch represents the growing integration of commercial spaceflight capabilities with military and national security operations, demonstrating how reusable rocket technology can support classified government missions. The potential use of Starshield satellites indicates expanding military communications and surveillance infrastructure in low Earth orbit.
Understand the Science
SpaceX will launch a secret mission for the U.S. Space Force today (Sept. 10), and you can watch the action live.
A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today during a three-hour window that opens at 11:37 a.m. EDT (1537 GMT; 8:37 a.m. local time), kicking off a mission called USSF-153.
You can watch live via SpaceX, starting about 10 minutes before launch.
USSF-153 is a classified mission, so little is known about its payloads — what they are or where exactly they’re headed.
We likely won’t get clarity from the webcast, which is expected to end shortly after the Falcon 9’s first stage comes back to Earth. The booster will land in the Pacific Ocean atop a SpaceX drone ship about 8.5 minutes after liftoff.
However, the location of that touchdown provides some potentially useful information about USSF-153, according to NextSpaceflight.com.
The mission might be carrying “a batch of classified LEO [low Earth orbit] satellites for a U.S. government entity based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of rocket stage drop zones being exact fits with previous Starlink Group 15 launches,” the outlet wrote.
Starlink is SpaceX’s constellation of LEO broadband satellites. “Starshield leverages SpaceX’s Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts,” SpaceX wrote in a description of the Starshield program.
Crew-7 | CRS-29 | PACE | Transporter-10 | EarthCARE | NROL-186 | Transporter-13 | TRACERS | NROL-48 | COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM3 | 16 Starlink missions
Today’s launch will be the 104th Falcon 9 mission of 2026. Eighty of the rocket’s flights this year have been dedicated to building out the Starlink megaconstellation, which currently consists of more than 11,000 active spacecraft.
USSF-153 will be the 27th flight for this particular Falcon 9’s first stage. The record for a SpaceX booster is 37, set last month during a Starlink launch.
Source: Watch SpaceX launch classified mission for the US Space Force today