AI Image
SpaceX launches 21 satellites to orbit for the US military after 5-day delay
Space • • nation
Key Points:
- SpaceX launched 21 "data transport" satellites for the U.S. Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA) from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Oct. 10, after a five-day delay due to an aborted launch attempt.
- This mission supports the SDA's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a mesh network of low Earth orbit satellites designed for global military communications and missile tracking.
- The launch was the fourth of nine planned for Tranche 1, which will ultimately deploy 154 operational satellites, including data-transport spacecraft, missile-tracking vehicles, and missile-defense test satellites.
- The Falcon 9 booster successfully landed back at Vandenberg, marking the sixth flight for this particular booster, and the satellites were confirmed deployed by Northrop Grumman to provide secure, low-latency military communications.
- This was the 111th Falcon 9 launch of the year, with over 70% supporting SpaceX's Starlink broadband constellation, which now has more than 11,000 satellites in orbit.
