SpaceX Falcon 9-Rakete startet von Kalifornien zu einer geheimen Mission der US-Weltraumstreitkräfte
Video from the channel Spaceflight Now about Falcon 9, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 44:56. Language: English. Video type: Livestream.
What is being broadcast
Spaceflight Now live broadcast of the launch of a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying the USSF-259 mission: a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. Liftoff was scheduled for 6:07 p.m. Pacific time on September 16, 2026 (01:07 UTC on the 17th). Details about the payload are scarce. The commentator explains that this is SpaceX's third national security mission in a month and that, at the Space Force's request, no footage of the second stage would be shown. The previous day's attempt had been scrubbed before fueling began due to an issue the company considered resolved, without further details.
Key moments
During the countdown, the propellant loading is reviewed: RP-1 kerosene, liquid oxygen and helium to pressurize the tanks. The retraction of the strongback is also described; at Vandenberg it tilts about 13 degrees and stays that way until liftoff, unlike the one at Cape Canaveral. The rocket loads around one million pounds of propellant. The first stage was booster B1097 on its thirteenth flight. Its history includes Starlink missions, Sentinel-6B for the European Copernicus program, a rideshare mission with NASA's Pandora satellite, and Transporter 17. After liftoff, the broadcast covers max-Q, stage separation, confirmation of fairing separation, the roughly 24-second entry burn, and the landing burn.
Outcome
The launch goes well and SpaceX confirms a nominal trajectory. Booster B1097 lands on the droneship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Pacific, completing its thirteenth flight. It was the 688th Falcon 9 launch and the 106th of 2026. At the close, a Starlink launch is announced for Saturday the 19th, along with Starship's flight 14, which would carry Starlink V3 satellites to a full orbit for the first time.