🔴LIVE: SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch at Vandenberg SFB, CA

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the first batch of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites to low Earth orbit. The Falcon 9 first stage booster will target a landing on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA.

Mission

SDA Tranche 1 Transport Layer B

Type: Government/Top Secret

Orbit: Polar Orbit

Launch Cost: $52,000,000

Tranche 1 Transport Layer B is one of six missions by the United States Space Force Space Development Agency (SDA) for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) Tranche 1 Transport Layer constellation, which will provide assured, resilient, low-latency military data and connectivity worldwide to the full range of warfighter platforms from Low Earth Orbit satellites.

The constellation will be interconnected with Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) which have significantly increased performance over existing radio frequency crosslinks. It is expected to operate over Ka band, have stereo coverage and be dynamically networked for simpler hand-offs, greater bandwidth and fault tolerance.

This launch carries 21 satellites manufactured by York Space Systems.

Space Launch Complex 4E has witnessed the launch of 214 rockets, including 214 orbital launch attempts. While Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA, has been the site for 828 rocket launches.

Vandenberg Space Force Base is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.

Space Launch Complex 4E

Rocket

SpaceX Falcon 9 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.

Falcon 9 Block 5

Landing

Core B1093

The Falcon 9 first stage B1093 will attempt to land on ASDS OCISLY after its 6th flight. Booster B1093 last launched 08/14/2025 and has seen 5 successful launches and landings. Falcon 9 booster debuting on Starlink Group 11-11.

Of Course I Still Love You - OCISLY

The second ASDS barge, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) services launches in the Pacific Ocean and was the site of the first landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage during CRS-8, the launch of a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship - ASDS

An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.

B1093

Agency

SpaceX

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.