SpaceX launched its fifth US national-security mission of the year on September 10, 2026, sending the classified USSF-153 payload for the United States Space Force to low Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 8:42 a.m. PDT (15:42 UTC), with the first-stage booster recovered on the Pacific droneship Of Course I Still Love You.
USSF-153 Payload Kept Classified
Space Systems Command declined to disclose the number of satellites on board or their orbital destination, telling Spaceflight Now only that "specific details about the mission and payload are protected." SpaceX likewise skipped its usual post-launch mission timeline beyond confirming booster separation and landing, roughly 8.5 minutes into flight, in line with standard practice for classified national-security launches.
B1081 Notches Its 27th Mission
The mission was the 27th flight of Falcon 9 first stage B1081, whose earlier career includes four NASA flights, two missions each for the National Reconnaissance Office, the European Space Agency and rideshare customers, and 16 Starlink batches. The successful landing was the 224th recovery on Of Course I Still Love You and the 660th Falcon booster landing to date.
The Fifth NSSL Mission Of 2026
USSF-153 caps a run of national-security launches SpaceX has flown for the Pentagon this year: NROL-105 in January, NROL-172 in May, the Space Development Agency's Third Tranche 1 mission in July and USSF-366 in August. USSF-366 was awarded under National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1, the newer contract vehicle the Space Force is using to broaden its launch supplier base while still leaning on SpaceX for the bulk of near-term missions.
Why It Matters
Classified payloads like USSF-153 keep the Space Force's proliferated LEO architecture — including future SDA tranches — moving on schedule, and give the Pentagon a repeatable, low-cost cadence for imaging, missile warning and communications. For related coverage, see our reporting on IBM and NASA's open-source lunar foundation model, Tomorrow.io's DeepSky satellite architecture, and the $3B Waymo financing.
Reporting based on coverage from Spaceflight Now, Space Systems Command and SpaceX.