SpaceX launches classified USSF-481 mission for Space Force
Falcon 9 carried a classified Space Force payload to a polar orbit from Vandenberg on booster B1081's 28th flight.
what happened
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-481 mission for the U.S. Space Force aboard a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 5:01 p.m. PDT on October 15 (0001 UTC October 16), per Spaceflight Now. The payload's destination and contents are undisclosed, though FAA hazard notices describe a southerly trajectory into an orbit inclined about 80 degrees from the equator. Booster B1081 flew for the 28th time, having previously flown four NASA missions, three national-security missions, two Transporter rideshare flights, two European missions and 16 Starlink missions, and landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You about 8.5 minutes after liftoff, per Spaceflight Now and a Yahoo/AP report.
why it matters
USSF-481 is a routine addition to the Space Force's growing cadence of dedicated national-security Falcon 9 missions, continuing SpaceX's near-monopoly on US military launch in 2026.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- launch
- Impact
- noise
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-10-15
- Published
- 2026-10-16 05:27 UTC