SpaceX launched the classified USSF-259 mission for the US Space Force on a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 16 September, following a scrub the previous day. The first stage returned to the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific about 8.5 minutes after liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E.
The payload remains undisclosed and no public details have been released on the number of satellites or their capabilities. SpaceX had assigned the flight to booster B1097 on its 13th mission, underscoring the company’s continued reliance on reflown hardware for national security launches.
USSF-259 was the latest in a run of Space Force missions handled by SpaceX under the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 contract. Spaceflight Now described it as the third Space Force or Space Systems Command mission launched by SpaceX in roughly a month, reflecting the steady cadence now being sustained for US military space launches.