Overview
- USSF-259 is a classified U.S. Space Force mission that SpaceX plans to launch from Vandenberg during a four-hour window on Tuesday, Sept. 15, with a backup window the next day.
- SpaceX will begin a live webcast roughly 10 minutes before liftoff and the stream is expected to end shortly after the Falcon 9 first stage returns to the drone ship, so orbital or payload details will likely remain secret.
- The first-stage booster assigned to USSF-259 is B1097 and reports indicate this flight will be the booster's 13th trip to space, with an ocean landing planned on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You.
- A separate Starlink mission, Starlink 15-27, is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19 to place 27 satellites into low-Earth orbit and it also plans a first-stage recovery on the same drone ship.
- Local agencies and SpaceX warn residents across Southern California and parts of Arizona to expect viewing opportunities and the possible report of sonic booms, a routine public impact of frequent Falcon 9 operations as SpaceX increases its launch cadence.