SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from California on classified U.S. Space Force mission
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday, Nov. 6, carrying another group of satellites for a classified U.S. Space Force program. The USSF-432 mission is the fourth in a series of launches that the Space Force has declined to discuss publicly.
Liftoff from pad 4E came at 4:48 p.m. PST (7:48 p.m. EST, 0048 UTC on Nov. 7). The rocket flew a south-easterly trajectory away from the central California coast. The mission was first scheduled for Nov. 1. It slipped repeatedly, initially because of delays to the Starlink 15-18 launch and later for reasons that were not disclosed.
The “R” series
Public documents list USSF-432 as R-4. The sequence began on Aug. 16 with USSF-366, followed by USSF-153 (R-2) on Sept. 10 and USSF-385 (R-3) on Sept. 26.
Orbital catalog entries indicate that each R launch has placed 23 satellites in orbit. The spacecraft are believed to be based on Starshield, SpaceX’s government-oriented version of the Starlink satellite. According to Jonathan McDowell, who tracks space launches, the R satellites belong to the Space Force’s Space Based Sensing and Targeting program.
The Space Force has officially declined to release any information about the missions. Neither it nor SpaceX has confirmed that satellites were successfully deployed on the earlier flights in the series.
Booster B1095 moves west
The Falcon 9 first stage, B1095, was flying for the eighth time. It landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, stationed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
All of the booster’s earlier flights launched from the East Coast, from either Cape Canaveral Space Force Station or Kennedy Space Center. It was transferred across the country after launching the GPS 3-8 mission in April.
Most recent Falcon 9 launches have flown from Vandenberg, as SpaceX concentrates its Florida efforts on preparing to launch its first Starship from the state.
Source: spaceflightnow.com
