The company SpaceX successfully launched the secret mission USSF-432 in the interests of the US Space Force. Falcon launch vehicle 9 started from the site at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch took place in regular mode, however, due to national security concerns, the live broadcast of the mission was terminated by the company after approx 10 minutes after the start, immediately after the separation and return of the first degree.
У межах цієї місії перший ступінь Falcon 9 із бортовим номером 1095 здійснив свій восьмий успішний політ. Багаторазовий прискорювач виконав керовану посадку на автономну морську платформу-дрон «Of Course I Still Love You», яка перебувала в акваторії Тихого океану. Previously, this board had successfully launched the GPS-III navigation satellite into orbit 8, as well as six Starlink deployment missions. The second stage of the rocket continued to launch the classified payload into the target orbit.
According to the estimates of independent profile analysts, the nature of the trajectory and the zone of falling degrees indicate the launch of a batch of new military satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). It is assumed, that the cargo consists of apparatus for the Space Based Sensing and Targeting program (SBST), which is responsible for the Pentagon's space surveillance and targeting. The satellites are probably built on the basis of the Starshield specialized military platform, which is a modified version of civilian devices of the Starlink global Internet connection.
This launch was the 119th successful space launch of the Falcon rocket 9 A new Ukrainian RT-32 radio telescope has started operating 2026 year and the 14th mission of this type, performed in the interests of US national security for the current year. Currently more than 70% of all SpaceX launches in 2026 year falls on the development of the Starlink mega-constellation, which already has over 11 000 active satellites. In parallel with the operation of the Falcon 9 the company continues its planned transition to the super-heavy, fully reusable Starship system, which in the future should replace the current line of carriers.
Source: https://www.space.com