SpaceX launched an undisclosed payload for the US Space Force tonight from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral aboard Falcon 9. Liftoff was at 7:52 EST (00:52 UTC) under heavy skies on the Space Coast.

Around 8.5 minutes later, Falcon 9 Booster B1085 completed its fourth mission successfully when it touched down on ASDS ‘A Shortfall Of Gravitas’ stationed off of the coast of the Carolinas. ASOG and B1085 will now return to Port Canaveral, where the booster will be offloaded and returned to SpaceX’s Hangar X at Kennedy Space Center for inspection and preparation for its fifth flight.

Payload

Good question. Those who know aren’t saying, but evidence points towards a GPS satellite according to a number of sources who closely analyzed the publicly available information of the flight path for this launch and then compared that to other missions.

See: Spaceflight Now RRT-1 mission coverage

Others were more specific, saying it is the GPS-IIIA satellite. If so, that would mean that the first of the third-generation GPS satellites has been launched.

Launch Replay

Next Launch

SpaceX is planning to launch the O3b mPower 7 & 8 mission from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center NET Tuesday, December 17, 2024. The launch window opens at 3:59 PM EST and closes at 5:26 PM the same day.

Weather is a major watch item for this flight, with a 45% Probability of Violation at any point in the launch window, according to the December 16 launch forecast issued by the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron.

• Date: NET December 17, 2024
• Organization: SpaceX
• Mission: O3b mPower 7 & 8
• Rocket: Falcon 9
• Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
• Launch Window: 3:59 – 5:26 PM EST
• Payload: Officially undisclosed