CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a set of satellites into Earth’s orbit Wednesday as part of a national security mission for the U.S. Space Force.
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U.S. Space Systems Command and SpaceX completed a readiness review Tuesday ahead of the launch -- which happened as scheduled at 5:30 p.m. -- from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-40.
It was the eighth SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of a National Security Space Launch mission since 2018, and the 11th overall involving a SpaceX Falcon rocket.
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“We’re thrilled to have our team assembled here on the Space Coast, ready to launch the USSF-124 satellites,” Senior Material Leader for SSC’s Launch Execution Delta Col. Jim Horne said in a statement ahead of Wednesday’s launch. “With each national security launch, we continue to strengthen America’s capabilities and its deterrence in the face of growing threats while adding stability to a very dynamic world. It’s what we do in the Space Force, and we take that charge seriously.”
The rocket carried two satellites into orbit for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency.
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Approximately eight Minutes after liftoff, the rocket’s first-stage booster returned to the landing zone at Cape Canaveral to be used for a future launch.
There was the possibility that residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties would hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, depending on weather and other conditions.
The same booster has been used for a crewed launch to the International Space Station and four Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9 launch is one of two that SpaceX had planned for Wednesday from the Space Coast.
The company stood down from a launch scheduled for 12:57 a.m. Wednesday that would have carried a lunar lander into space.
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