Mission Report · Everything Space
Falcon 9 launches USSF-481 from Vandenberg SFB
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Block 5 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA on 16 Oct 2026 00:01:05 UTC. The flight succeeded.
The flight
The window opened at 23:44 UTC and ran 240 minutes. Liftoff came 17 minutes into it.
The first stage, B1081, was making its 28th flight.
It landed on Of Course I Still Love You, 574 km downrange.
The payload was bound for Polar Orbit.
The mission
A classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bus, based on locations of ascent rocket stage drop zones being fits with previous SDA Transport Layer launches.
Payload description as recorded by Launch Library 2.
By the numbers
SpaceX has now flown 740 launches in total. Its run of consecutive successful launches stands at 225.
It was the 303rd launch from Space Launch Complex 4E.
| Liftoff | 16 Oct 2026 00:01:05 UTC |
|---|---|
| Outcome | Launch Successful |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Provider | SpaceX |
| Pad | Space Launch Complex 4E |
| Target orbit | Polar Orbit |
| First stage | B1081 (flight 28) |
| Recovery | Landed — Of Course I Still Love You |
Written by Everything Space from Launch Library 2’s record of this flight — every figure above comes from that record. Fetched Fri, 23 Oct 2026 18:48:34 GMT.