SpaceX just sent another batch of satellites into orbit for the US military.
A Falcon 9 a rocket took off from the Californian plane Vandenberg Space Base today (October 10) at 3:39 a.m. EDT (07:39 GMT; 12:39 a.m. local time), putting 21 “data transport” satellites into orbit for US Space ForceThe Space Development Agency (SDA) of .
It was five days later than originally planned. SpaceX attempted to launch the mission on Monday October 5, but the Falcon 9 aborted this attempt in the final minute of the countdown, for reasons the company has not revealed.
Today’s launch helps develop the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), which SpaceX described as “a mesh network of optically connected satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) that enable global military tactical communications and missile warning, indication and tracking capabilities.
This liftoff is the fourth of nine that SpaceX will conduct to help assemble Tranche 1 of the architecture – the “initial combat capability tranche” according to the SDA.
Tranche 1 will ultimately include 154 operational satellites in LEO – 126 data transport spacecraft and 28 missile tracking vehicles. There will also be four missile defense test satellites, which will have a “higher fidelity” infrared sensor than their tracking counterparts, SDA officials wrote. (Missile tracking satellites typically look for the heat signatures these weapons produce during flight).
To date, eighty-four of the 126 data-carrying satellites have been launched, all aboard Falcon 9, which took off from Vandenberg in 2017. September 2025, October 2025, July this year and today.
And, as the name suggests, Tranche 1 will be just the beginning, if all goes as planned.
“SDA leverages spiral development to deploy and proliferate new capabilities in a new generation of PWSA every two years, called a ‘tranche,’ to continually increase the capabilities employed by the warfighter,” SDA officials wrote in a statement. Information sheet Tranche 1.
Previous Booster 1103 launches
NROL-179 | SDA-T1TL-E | 3 Starlink missions
Everything seemed to be going well during today’s launch. The Falcon 9 first stage returned to Vandenberg for a landing just over seven minutes after takeoff. This was the sixth mission for this particular booster, designated 1103. Its most recent flight was July’s Tranche 1 mission for the SDA.
SpaceX ended its webcast shortly after the booster landed, at the request of the SDA, so we were unable to witness the satellite deployment. But this is the norm for national security launches.
The satellites were successfully deployed into their target orbit, according to a October 10 announcement by their manufacturer, the aerospace giant Northrop Grumman. The 21 spacecraft “will provide secure, resilient, low-latency communications and data transport in low-Earth orbit,” helping connect warfighters to missile tracking satellites, the company wrote.
Today’s mission was the 111th Falcon 9 flight of the year. The vast majority of them — more than 70% — contributed to the development of SpaceX. Star link broadband megaconstellation, which currently includes more than 11,000 satellites.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:45 p.m. ET on October 10 with news of the successful satellite deployment.
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