NASASpaceflight reported liftoff from Vandenberg's SLC-4E, followed by stage separation and a booster touchdown at LZ-4E.
SpaceX described the flight as the fourth Tranche 1 data transport mission to low-Earth orbit. NASASpaceflight reported that Falcon 9 B1103-6 launched from Vandenberg's SLC-4E, followed by stage separation and a booster touchdown at LZ-4E.
1.3M
4 Sources, first seen ago
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:39 a.m. PDT on Saturday, carrying 21 data satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Development Agency.
The flight, named Tranche 1 Transport Layer A, was the agency’s fourth mission to place production satellites into low-Earth orbit. The 21 spacecraft were built by Northrop Grumman, according to Spaceflight Now’s launch report.
The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E and headed south. Its first and second stages separated roughly two minutes after launch, matching the sequence published on SpaceX’s mission page.
The first-stage booster, B1103, was flying for the sixth time. It returned to Landing Zone 4 about seven and a half minutes after liftoff, completing the 37th Falcon booster landing at that site, Spaceflight Now reported.
Saturday’s flight followed an aborted launch attempt on Oct. 5. That countdown stopped with 58 seconds remaining after the rocket’s computers took control. SpaceX attributed the hold to “some off-nominal data on Stage Two,” and the vehicle was lowered for additional checks before the next attempt.
Tranche 1 is an early operational layer of the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. The program is designed to connect satellites with optical links and move tracking, warning and communications data with lower latency for U.S. military forces and allies.
Spaceflight Now reports liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 5:01 p.m. PDT on October 15.
Space.com reports it was Falcon 9’s first Starlink mission since September 19.
Spaceflight Now reports liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 5:01 p.m. PDT on October 15.
Space.com reports it was Falcon 9’s first Starlink mission since September 19.
—
Not ranked yet
—
Not ranked yet
The agency expects Tranche 1 to begin providing operational capabilities in 2027. The completed tranche is planned to include 126 Transport Layer satellites, 28 Tracking Layer satellites and four missile-defense demonstration spacecraft.
The Space Development Agency has described a much larger end state for the Transport Layer, with 300 to 500 satellites flying between about 750 and 1,200 kilometers above Earth.
