Secret cargo for the US military: Falcon 9 launches USSF-481 mission from California
SpaceX has launched a classified payload for the US Space Force from Vandenberg. The first stage flew for the 28th time and landed on a ship in the Pacific.
Archive image · Photo: Bill Ingalls / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
SpaceX has launched a classified payload for the US Space Force. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Thursday at 5:01 p.m. local time from launch pad SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California; in Germany it was already 2:01 a.m. on Friday. The mission is called USSF-481 and is also listed as 'TH-2' in public notices. According to Spaceflight Now, it is the second mission in this series within two months; the first, USSF-259, launched on 16 September.
What exactly was on board remained secret; SpaceX gave hardly any information during its livestream either, Space.com reports. After liftoff the rocket headed south. According to Spaceflight Now, airspace and maritime warnings point to a low Earth orbit inclined about 80 degrees to the equator. A request to the US Department of the Air Force about the nature of the mission went unanswered before launch.
The reusable first stage B1081 flew for the 28th time and landed about eight minutes after liftoff on the droneship 'Of Course I Still Love You' in the Pacific. According to Spaceflight Now, it was the 671st Falcon booster landing overall. Space.com says USSF-481 was the 114th Falcon 9 mission of 2026; more than 70 percent of those flights carried Starlink satellites.