SpaceX is preparing to launch a classified mission for the United States Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The military installation, located on the central California coast, is a primary site for launching satellites into polar orbits.
The operation, named USSF-153, will lift off on a Falcon 9 rocket. The three hour launch window opens at 8:37 a.m. local time on Thursday.
If the launch does not happen on Thursday, a backup opportunity is scheduled for 8:23 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday.
SpaceX, the private aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, regularly conducts national security launches for the American military.
The United States Space Force operates as the space service branch of the American armed forces, managing military operations and satellite networks in orbit.
The specific cargo and the final destination of the USSF-153 mission remain hidden from the public. Because the mission is classified, no official details have been released about what exactly the rocket is transporting.
Possible Starshield cargo
The specialist website Space.com, citing data from NextSpaceflight, reported that the mission could be carrying a set of classified satellites for an American government agency.
These satellites might be built on the SpaceX Starshield platform. Starshield is a secure satellite network developed specifically for government and military applications, focusing on Earth observation and secure communications.
This theory is based on the projected drop zones for the stages of the rocket. Space.com noted that these designated recovery areas match those used in previous launches for Group 15 of the Starlink internet satellite constellation.
Starlink is SpaceX's commercial network of thousands of satellites operating in low Earth orbit to provide global broadband internet coverage.
This information has not received official confirmation. The exact nature of the USSF-153 cargo remains completely secret.
SpaceX will provide a live broadcast of the mission starting about ten minutes before liftoff. However, viewers will not see the payload deployed into space.
The company is expected to end the transmission shortly after the first stage of the Falcon 9 returns to Earth. Cutting the feed early is a standard practice for classified operations to protect sensitive information about the final trajectory and orbital insertion of the payload.
Record booster flight
The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket being used for this launch is making its 27th flight. The booster has already completed 26 previous missions.
SpaceX routinely lands and reuses the lower stages of its rockets to reduce the cost of spaceflight and increase the frequency of its launch manifest.
This specific booster has previously supported major operations including Crew-7, which carried astronauts to the International Space Station, and the cargo resupply mission CRS-29.
It also launched PACE and EarthCARE, which are climate and Earth observation satellites, alongside missions NROL-186 and TRACERS. The booster has also been used for 16 separate launches carrying Starlink satellites into orbit.
After separating from the second stage, the booster will return to Earth. It will attempt to land on the SpaceX maritime platform named Of Course I Still Love You.
The autonomous drone ship is essentially a modified barge. It is stationed in the Pacific Ocean to catch rockets that do not have enough fuel to safely return to a landing pad on the California coast.
The return of the rocket component may create one or more sonic booms in the area. A sonic boom is a loud, thunderous noise caused by shock waves when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound.
The launch sequence begins with fueling the Falcon 9 about 35 minutes before liftoff. In the final minutes, the engines undergo thermal preparation, flight computers complete their final checks, and the propellant tanks are pressurised for flight.
The engine ignition sequence starts about three seconds before the rocket leaves the pad.
Previous lunar impact
A different Falcon 9 component met a completely different end last month. The second stage of a SpaceX rocket collided with the Moon on August 5.
Second stages are the upper portions of the rocket that push the payload into its final orbit and are typically not recovered after their engines shut down.
That rocket component had remained in space since a mission carried out in January 2025. The impact created a crater on the lunar surface that was described as comparable to one made by a meteoroid.
