Update on September 1, 10:20 a.m. ET: SpaceX is now targeting no less than Saturday 2 SeptemberTo launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 13 military satellites on the second Tranche 0 mission of the US Space Force’s Space Development Agency. Takeoff is expected to be scheduled for 10:26 AM EST (1426 GMT) after a two-day delay.
SpaceX will launch a batch of military satellites on Saturday (September 2) after a two-day delay, and you can watch the event live.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 13 spacecraft for the US Space Force’s Space Development Agency (SDA) is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday and is expected to lift off at 12:00 GMT. 10:26 a.m. EDT (1426 GMT; 7:26 a.m. California local time) Based on previous attempts, though not confirmed by SpaceX at the time.
You can watch it live here on Space.com when the time comes, for free from SpaceX, or Directly through the company. Coverage is expected to begin 15 minutes before take-off. SpaceX initially attempted to launch the Tranche 0 mission on August 31, but postponed it for an undisclosed reason. The second attempt, on September 1, was also canceled about 12 minutes before take-off, with no stated reason.
“After discontinuing the launch attempt today, the next available opportunity is Saturday, September 2nd,” SpaceX said Written in the update on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Related: What is the US Space Force and what does it do?
Saturday’s launch will be SpaceX’s second launch in support of the Deployed Fighter Space Engineering (PWSA), a “new network of layered low-Earth orbit satellites and supporting elements that will provide global military communications, warning, tracking and missile warning capabilities” in Task description.
PWSA’s first mission took place in early April, when a Falcon 9 rocket launched 10 satellites from Vandenberg.
These first two missions are dedicated to building Tranche 0, a demonstration constellation that will consist of 28 satellites. According to the Space News website. Most are communications vehicles, but some are designed to detect missiles.
As the name suggests, Tranche 0 is just the beginning of the PWSA.
Under the plan, the Space Force will have hundreds of small satellites, with new satellites launched every few years to increase flexibility and capabilities in orbit. She wrote for Air Force and Space Magazine In late March.
If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9 first stage will return to land at Vandenberg about 7.5 minutes after launch today. This will be the 14th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to the SpaceX mission description.
It is not clear when the satellites will be deployed. SpaceX did not provide any information about this achievement. This is not surprising. Details are often scarce in national security missions.
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