{"id":885036,"date":"2026-10-17T02:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/885036\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T02:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T02:36:13","slug":"spacex-launches-a-classified-payload-for-u-s-space-force-spaceflight-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/885036\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches a classified payload for U.S. Space Force \u2013 Spaceflight Now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-74570\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/20261015_USSF-481.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"678\" height=\"382\"  \/>A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base on the USSF-481 mission on Oct. 15, 2026. Image: SpaceX via livestream<\/p>\n<p>Update 8:23 p.m. EDT (0023 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster on the droneship.<\/p>\n<p>As the bugle call and National Anthem sounded across Vandenberg Space Force Base, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched carrying a classified payload for the United States Space Force on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 5:01 p.m. PDT (8:01 p.m. EDT \/ 0001 UTC). The mission, designated USSF-481, took a southerly trajectory upon leaving the pad. Hazard warnings suggest that it flew to a low Earth orbit inclined about 80 degrees from the Equator.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX launched this mission using the Falcon 9 first stage booster B1081. This was its 28th launch following four missions for NASA, three nationals security missions, two Transporter rideshare missions, two missions for Europe, and 16 Starlink missions.<\/p>\n<p>A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1081 landed on the droneship, Of Course I Still Love You, positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 228th landing on this vessel and the 671st Falcon booster landing to date.<\/p>\n<p>The USSF-481 is also referenced as \u201cTH-2\u201d in public notices. It\u2019s the second \u201cTH\u201d mission launched in as many months with the first being USSF-259 or TH-1 on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n<p>Spaceflight Now reached out to the Department of the Air Force regarding the nature of the mission. This article will be updated if we receive a response prior to launch.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching on a secretive mission for the U.S. military gets a musical send-off from Vandenberg Space Force Base with the five o\u2019clock bugle call \u2018Retreat\u2019 followed by the National Anthem. https:\/\/t.co\/4YMB8Ha6ih<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpaceflightNow\/status\/2110890738234077369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[79],"class_list":["post-885036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}